Minutes of Communication Meeting held on 08.04.2009
The Communication Meeting was held at the Corporate Office in New Delhi. It was attended by Chairman, Functional Directors, and heads of departments, locations, and State Offices.

The excerpts of the meeting are placed below:

Chairman
Director (Planning & Business Development)
Director (Finance)
Director (HR)
Director (Marketing)
Director (Refineries)
Director (R&D)
Director (Pipelines)
Chairman:

  • In his opening remarks, Chairman welcomed the officials attending the meeting for the first time as well as ED, Bongaigaon Refinery, after BRPL’s merger with IndianOil.
  • Talking about the encouraging physical performance, he expressed satisfaction that during the year 2008-09, the refineries had surpassed 100% capacity utilisation and clocked the highest ever crude oil throughout at 49.16 million tonnes. The pipelines breached the 10,000-km mark and registered a throughput of 59.38 million tonnes of crude oil and petroleum products. Sales volume recorded a growth of 5.5% and went up to 61.4 million tonnes, translating into a market share of 49.6%.
  • Mentioning that although IndianOil’s gross turnover moved up by 28% in the nine months ended December 2008, there was a net loss of Rs. 3,673 crore during the period as against a net profit of Rs. 7,377 crore during April-December 2007. He further shared that IndianOil had so far received Government of India's Special Oil Bonds worth Rs. 41,000 crore, in addition to Rs. 18,059 crore received till March 2009 from upstream companies towards subsidy¬ sharing.
  • Complimenting the growth in turnover from Rs. 700 crore to Rs. 2800 crore in the last five years of gas marketing, he said gas production from the KG Basin is a good opportunity to build the gas business.
  • He shared that Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (BRPL) had been merged with IndianOil w.e.f 25th March 2009 and would now be a part of IndianOil’s Refineries Division.
  • Sharing about the challenging targets in the MoU 2009-10 with the Government, he said that the emphasis on physical parameters such as crude oil throughput, energy factor, project milestones and market share had been enhanced, and new parameters such as corporate social responsibility initiatives, e-procurement and setting up of a network and infrastructure for polymer marketing had been added.
  • Speaking about the future plans, he said that the IndianOil Board had accorded investment approval for setting up a 15 million tonne refinery at Paradip at a cost of Rs. 29,777 crore. He added that Paradip Refinery will provide a strategic advantage to IndianOil on the east coast.
  • He also added that the new vision statement of IndianOil had been finalized and will be put up to the board for approval and adoption.
  • Reiterating his faith in the IndianOil team, he said that the greatest challenge lies in creating and maintaining a highly motivated and engaged workforce. Chairman advised that the annual career progression and relocation exercise, in accordance with the organisational needs as well as individual career growth requirements, has been completed. This year, permission had to be secured from the administrative ministry to create new posts in Grade ‘G’ and above. He added that in order to create a performance culture in the Corporation, linking ‘pay to performance’ is being attempted.
  • Expressing concern at level of safety in workplaces, he emphasised strengthening systems & procedures and increasing knowledge & skill on the safety aspects of working at height. Safety should be the watchword and be imbibed in our work culture, he added.
  • He shared about the recent Cabinet approval of an across-the-board pay hike for PSU executives based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers. He said that Board approval for implementing the same would be sought and conveyed to the administrative Ministry for issuance of Presidential Directives. On the subject, he informed that the 10 office bearers of IndianOil Officers’ Association suspended during the agitation had been re-instated. Pardon appeals of the three dismissed officers would be discussed at the Board level.
  • He shared that celebrations marking the completion of 50 years of IndianOil are being planned. He also informed that IndianOil has been ranked as one of Best Employers in a survey conducted by Hewitt Associates in association with the Outlook Business magazine and is the only PSU to figure in the prestigious list.
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Director (Planning & Business Development)

  • GAS: Complimenting the Gas group for five successful years of Gas business, he said that 1.85 million tonnes of R-LNG was sold during the last fiscal including gas sold to our refineries resulting in a gross turnover of Rs. 2835 crore, which is 21 % higher than that of last year.
  • Sharing that the LNG pricing formula has undergone a change w.e.f. 1st January 2009, he said that as per the agreement with RasGas of Qatar, the price will now vary on a monthly basis and in linkage to a pricing formula based on the Japanese Custom Cleared Crude (JCC) price. He added that most of the Gas Sale Agreements have been renewed with existing R-LNG customers for a periodicity of 5,10 and 20 years. Their gas quantities have also been redistributed to allocate 1.5 mmscmd to the upcoming Panipat Naphtha Cracker unit, he informed.
  • Informing that IndianOil had lost City Gas Distribution (CGD) bids for Sonepat, Meerut, Kota and Dewas (submitted in consortium with Adani Energy Ltd.) to GAIL, he said work is underway to submit bids for other cities like Chandigarh, Ghaziabad & Rajahmundry.
  • He said that in response to the increased demand for LNG at the doorstep, IndianOil had signed a contract with Petronet LNG Ltd. to expand the LNG loading capacity in road tankers at Dahej from the existing 15,000 tonnes to 20,500 tonnes per annum. He added that the new R-LNG customers have agreed to arrange for road transportation and storage of LNG themselves.
  • He shared that IndianOil had submitted a non-binding indicative offer to from a joint venture with Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) for RIL’s retail and aviation assets.
  • PETROCHEMICALS: Reflecting that sales of IOCLAB dropped by 7% to 127 TMTs during 2008-09 due to overall drop in the global demand, he complimented the Petrochemicals group for earning a profit of Rs. 259 crore in the LAB Business vis-à-vis Rs. 73 crore earned last year, thus registering a stunning 355% growth.
  • Informing that the high molecular weight grade of IOCLAB has been globally qualified by Proctor & Gamble for supplies to its units in Europe, Africa, Middle East and India, he expressed happiness that IOCLAB is now exported to twelve countries across a spectrum of MNC customers.
  • He said that despite significant demand erosion during Aug-Oct 2008, PTA sale grew by 8.6% to over 400 TMTs during 2008--09. With the demand having picked up now, PTA sale has crossed the highest ever levels of over 50 TMTs each in Dec 08 and Jan’09.
  • He also indicated that preparations for the polymer marketing are in full swing.
  • He informed that the scope of the detailed feasibility report of the new Para-xylene unit at Gujarat has been expanded involving some additional cost.
  • On setting up coal-based captive power plant at Naraj Marthapur in Orissa as a joint venture with Tata Power, he informed that various pre-project activities such as land acquisition, securing water & coal linkage and environment clearance are in progress.
  • He shared that in the first phase, the Government has awarded two coal blocks to Tata-Sasol consortium and Jindal Steel. IndianOil is in discussions with Tata-Sasol to participate in the consortium to pursue coal to liquid project.
  • He said that in order to establish the viability of a DME (Di-Methyl Ether) project in India as a multi-purpose fuel, a task force has been set up with members drawn from the oil sector, SIAM and other related agencies.
  • Bio-Fuels: Director(P&BD) informed that a joint venture company - IndianOil CREDA Bio-fuels Ltd. - has been formed in Feb. 2009 with CREDA, Chattisgarh, to produce 30,000 MTPA of Bio-diesel by 2015 by undertaking plantation on 30,000 ha revenue waste land.
  • Adding that the first phase pilot plantation of Jatropha on 600 ha in Madhya Pradesh is in progress, he said that discussions are underway in other states, viz., Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and with various plantation companies to establish commercial biodiesel units.
  • He informed that IndianOil and Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd. are jointly exploring the feasibility of establishing a model Bio-diesel value chain in 2 Districts of Uttar Pradesh.
  • GLOBALISATION: Director(P&BD) said that IndianOil has submitted a draft MoU to Petromoc SA, a public sector company that controls 70% of the import and distribution of petroleum fuel in Mozambique. He added that due to the strategic location of Kandla in view of movement of crude oil as well as for import / export of product, IndianOil has expressed interest to the Kandla Port Trust to participate in the development of integrated facilities at Vadinar Port through Private Public Partnership.
  • Mentioning that the technical service and manpower secondment agreements with ENOC, Dubai, have been renewed, he expressed concern that in view of the insufficient manpower availability, it may be difficult to pursue these lucrative propositions. Sharing PII’s requirement of over 100 positions in Middle East for a period of 1-2 years, he sought ways to spare manpower for these assignments and earn additional revenue for IndianOil.
  • E&P: Speaking on the subject, Director(P&BD) said that the commerciality of gas discovery in Farsi block has been accepted by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the master development plan is currently under finalisation.
  • He shared that the Yemeni Parliament has approved the Production Sharing Agreements signed earlier for Blocks 82 & 83 with IndianOil and its consortium partners, and the final Presidential decree has also been signed.
  • He also informed that the Production Sharing Contracts for the two ‘S’ type blocks in Cambay awarded to IndianOil and one KG Basin Block awarded to the IndianOil consortium under NELP-VII have been signed. He added that applications have also been submitted for grant of Petroleum Exploration License for the 2 ‘S’ type blocks, whereas Exploration License for the KG deepwater block has been granted.
  • Corporate Planning & Economic Studies: Director(P&BD) said the provisional score in MoU 2008-09 is in the range of 1.09, which falls in ‘Excellent” category. He added that the capital expenditure up to February 2009 is Rs.8974 crore, which is 105.58% of BE (Rs.8500 crore) and 101.98% of RE (Rs.8800 crore). The BE for 2009-10 is Rs.11000 crore as approved by Planning Commission.
  • He informed that work is ongoing to expand the network of solar lantern charging stations from the current two stations in UP to Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and other states. He expressed happiness at the completion of 21 MW wind power as well as it having generated power of 74 lakh units (KWH).
  • He shared that IndianOil has initiated discussions with the Nuclear Power Corporation for entry into nuclear power.
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Director (Finance)

  • Expressing hope that the worst is perhaps over in terms of high crude oil prices and severe liquidity crunch, he said to fully compensate the under-recoveries incurred during 2008-09, Rs. 6700 crore worth of Oil Bonds are required (in addition to those already issued). In the event of their issuance, IndianOil would be able to close the year with a modest profit.
  • Adding that the last tranche of Oil Bonds is vital, Director (Finance) said that despite falling crude oil prices globally, the refining margins have also shrunk which does not augur well for our profitability.
  • Mentioning that Government securities carry an interest rate of 7.5%, he said that Oil Bonds received last year carried a very low coupon rate of 6.35%-6.5% due to which, IndianOil had to sell them at a discount and suffered a loss of Rs. 1000 crore on disposal of Oil Bonds. He added that Government has been requested to compensate the loss incurred on Oil Bonds disposal as well. If the entire quantum of Oil Bonds (already issued plus due) is factored in, their disposal would result in a discount loss of Rs. 2500 crore for IndianOil (due to the low coupon rate).
  • He said that this fiscal has begun with a low base of crude oil prices. From a peak level of Rs. 67,000 crore in November 2008, our borrowings have come down to Rs. 45,000 crore in March 2009.
  • With RBI resuming Special Market Operations (SMO) last month, liquidity position is better. Anticipating RBI to stop SMO at anytime, Director (Finance) said that there is an attempt to dispose off as many Oil Bonds as possible as long SMO is in operation.
  • Mentioning that so far, borrowings from Banks were not project-specific, he said that in case of Paradip Refinery project, an exception has been made due to the size of the project and funds have been arranged from 22 banks through SBICaps. He added that over Rs. 14,900 crore have been tied up at an interest rate of 25 basis points lower than the SBI PLR, and that financial closure will be achieved shortly. The interest rate would be between 10 &11%.
  • Reflecting on the rating agency S&P’s decision to downgrade IndianOil’s rating from stable to speculative, he said that this will affect overseas borrowing. He expressed hope that the rating agencies would review their decision positively which would help IndianOil raise better foreign currency loans.
  • Director (Finance) complimented the Treasury group in Corporate Finance department for smooth handling of fund flow operations in the highly testing period of Oct-Nov 2008.
  • Complimenting the IS group too for smooth and successful changeover to higher upgrades of SAP, he said that an MoU has been signed with CPCL for SAP implementation consultancy. Sharing the status of SAP implementation in Sri Lanka, he informed that IndianOil’s work is ready and would implement as soon as they (the client – CPSTL) procures the hardware.

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Director (HR)

  • Carrying forward the plans for golden jubilee celebrations as mentioned by Chairman, Director (HR) informed that Indian Oil Company was formed on 30th June 1959 and was subsequently merged with Indian Refineries Ltd. that was formed in 1958 to form Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. on 1st Sept. 1964. He added that the golden jubilee celebrations would commence at corporate level on 30th June 2009 and would be held at Vigyan Bhavan. The concluding function will be held on 1st Sept. 2009 at Mumbai. In addition to replicating these functions across Divisions / Units, he said that a host of activities planned for the event include release of commemorative stamp, coffee table book, corporate film as well as unveiling the new vision statement. He urged all senior executives to involve all employees and stakeholders in the celebrations.
  • Mentioning about the successful conduct of PETROTECH-2009 organised by IndianOil, Director (HR) complimented all associated officers.
  • Informing the details of pay revision, he said that DPE had issued supplementary guidelines on 2nd April 2009 for implementation which are different from the DPE guidelines issued on 26.11.08 in the following ways:
    1. Earlier, 68.8% DA was to be merged for the purpose of pay fixation. Now, it will be 78.2%.
    2. As per the earlier guidelines, the Superannuation Benefit carried a ceiling of 30% basic pay which will now be 30% of basic pay plus DA.
    3. As per the earlier guidelines, the revised allowances were to be effective from the date of issuance of Presidential Directives whereas, now it will be effective from 26.11.08.
    Adding that the process to seek Board approval has started and would be subsequently sent to the administrative Ministry for issuance of Presidential Directives, he hoped that the entire exercise would be over by the end of May 2009.
  • He further said that the expenditure limit on CSR activities has been hiked from 0.75% of yearly profit to 2% of retained profit w.e.f 2009-10. With the enhanced availability of funds, it is proposed to set up a separate trust to focus on CSR activities.
  • Speaking on recruitment, he said that during the year 2008-09, 1192 officers joined in ‘A’ grade whereas 296 left the company on account of superannuation, resignation, voluntary retirement, etc. Thus, the total strength of officers has gone up by a record number of 896. During the year, 396 engineers and 102 management graduates, including 28 from IIMs, were empanelled and are expected to join shortly.
  • Informing about the Korba explosives plant, he said that subsequent to the receipt of Ministry’s approval for its closure, the plant has been closed down and workmen have been redeployed in the bulk explosives plants as well as Eastern, Western and Southern regions of Marketing Division. With this, he hoped that the explosives business would be profitable henceforth.
  • He said that the voluntary retirement scheme was opened for a month on 10th Feb. 2009 and that applications of 15 officers and 13 non-officers have been approved.
  • Speaking on training activities conducted by IiPM, Director (HR) informed that the institute conducted 81 programmes during the year running into 24,151 man days registering an increase of 25% over last year. This was primarily due to the induction level programmes for new inductees, he added.
  • Reflecting on promoting a safety culture in IndianOi, he said that the S,H&E group had developed three audio-visual films on various aspects of safe working and would be used extensively at locations to promote awareness.
  • On the activities of the anti-adulteration cell, he informed that the Marker System had been discontinued. Against 4300 ROs inspected last year, 4600 ROs had been inspected during 2008-09 and 3 ROs were terminated.

Director (Marketing)

  • Reflecting on excellent operational performance achieved during 2008-09, Director(Marketing) said that sale of 61.6 million tonnes of products was registered, which was 3.3 million tonnes (7%) more than last year. He added that the market share went up by 0.6% to 49.5%.
  • Coming to specific products, he said that MS (Retail) volume grew by 14.4% and market share by 2.1% at 44.6%. HSD (Retail) volume grew by 12.2% and market share by 1.2% at 48.2%. Director(Marketing) added that IndianOil commands a lion’s share of the diesel (total) market at 54.4%. He further mentioned that the entire consumer complement of products – HSD (D), Naphtha, FO, LSHS, LDO and Bitumen - grew by 2%. Riding on a sectoral downturn, aviation fuel recorded a negative growth of 2.1% but maintained its market share at 63% (among PSUs). Sale of domestic LPG grew by 2.7% while NDNE (Non-Domestic Non-Exempt) and bulk LPG sales grew by 22.8% and 59.6% respectively. IndianOil’s market share in finished lubes grew by 2.3% at 40.2% (industry) and leadership in AutoLPG was maintained at 48.2%, he added.
  • Informing about the growth in the marketing network during the year, Director(Marketing) said that 743 new ROs (total 18,277), 31 additional XtraCare ROs (total 2031), 66 ALDS (total 223) and 495 KSKs (total 2545) were set up. Talking about the per pump throughout (PPT), he said at 36 KL / month (MS) and 119 KL / month (HSD), it was better than the industry average of 35 KL / month (MS) and 110 KL / month (HSD). The PPT of KSK improved by 14% over last year at 10 KL / month (MS) and 48 KL / month (HSD).
  • The usage of XtraPower fleet cards grew by 24% and branded fuels earned an additional margin of Rs. 171 crore (XtraPremium) and Rs. 95 crore (XtraMile). He added that the market share of XtraPremium grew by 3.1% at 48.3% and that of XtraMile grew by 1.6% and stood at 59.5%. He informed that 26 lakh new LPG customers were enrolled during the year taking the tally to 530 lakh.
  • Coming to projects, he said that capex utilisation of Rs.1400 crore was achieved during the year. Projects / facilities commissioned during the year included Hyderabad terminal, grassroots depots at Lalkuan and Ziwan and de-fuelling facilities for Indian Navy. In order to optimise usage of infrastructure, six depots and terminals were closed. Pre-monsoon topping exercise in the Northeast was also completed well in advance, he added.
  • Director(Marketing) said that blending of 10% ethanol with petrol had commenced on pilot basis form Belgaum and Aonla (Bareilly) depots in Jan 2009.
  • On a significant operational breakthrough, he said that in view of IndianOil’s cordial relationship with the Railways, IndianOil had become the only OMC so far which has been allowed access to their network to track rake loading status.
  • Talking about innovations, he said that procurement of LPG cylinders and regulators was undertaken through the electronic route for the first time. He also informed about the introduction of 47.5 kg cylinders as an ideal solution for industrial / commercial customers who need high vapour rate per unit time but lack the space for LPG bullets. Advising all State Offices to promote use of 47.5 kg cylinders, he said that sales had grown by 37% to reach 313 MT levels by end of March 2009.
  • He also spoke of having secured approval of the Tea Research Association for use of SERVO Agrospray Oil for pest control in tea plantation. The Agrospray oil already has approval for use in mango, mustard, rice, paddy, grapes, apple and cotton crops.
  • IOML: During the year, IOML’s market share went up to 21.6% and sales grew by almost 12% to 218,000 kl. Amongst the business segments, the maximum growth has been recorded by bunkering. IOML continued to maintain its numero uno position in the aviation sector with about 35% market share. With the commissioning of two filling stations this year, the total number of ROs has gone up to 17. Sale of 279 kl lubes was done during the year recording a growth of 47%.
  • IPPL (IndianOil Petronas Pvt. Ltd.): Sales grew by 22% at 789 TMT during the year. IPPL sold 1700 MT of AutoLPG and recorded a total profit before tax of Rs. 7.3 crore.
  • IOME (IndianOil Middle east FZE): During the year 2008-09, 1050 tonnes of finished lubes and 7090 tonnes of base oil were sold. 107 flexi tanks of Base oil were supplied as compared to 25 in the previous year. 80 drums of engine oil and gear oil were supplied for the service network of TOYOTA vehicles in Oman. The company is expected to clock a profit of over Rs. 2 crore.
  • IOSL (IndianOil Skytanking Ltd.): It has been accredited with ISO-9001 and 14000. It has started one-man refuelling and holds a market share of 72% in the Bengaluru International Airport.

Director (Refineries)

  • Complimenting the team for excellent operational performance, Director(Refineries) said that Refineries had achieved the highest ever crude oil throughput of 49.16 million tonnes during 2008-09 which is 3.8% more than the design capacity. Except Digboi and Mathura, all other five refineries have also achieved their highest ever individual throughputs, he added.
  • Informing that the energy conservation efforts have resulted in the reduction of overall specific energy consumption to 64 MBN during the year, he said that this is the lowest ever level in PSU refineries in India.
  • He said that in response to the market demand for Lube Oil Based Stock (LOBS), Haldia refinery produced its highest ever LOBS production of 235 TMT. Among other initiatives taken during the year, he added that the crude basket was widened to include 11 more grades of crude oil.
  • He also informed that in a stream sharing initiative aimed at optimising operations and cutting costs, MS Reformate was transferred from Gujarat and Barauni refineries to Guwahati refinery to enable it to stop purchase of Naphtha Return Stream from Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.
  • Sharing about the investment approval accorded by the Board for the Rs. 29,777 crore Paradip Refinery (PDRP), he said that it would be one of the most complex refineries designed to process the worst of crude oils and would be executed in the conventional mode in 36 months.
  • Mentioning that there had been a considerable reduction in plant interruptions, he said that the plant availability factor had improved to 98.66%.
  • Speaking about gross refining margins, he said that while performance on physical parameters has been good, financial performance has not followed suit. Operational efficiencies and increased crude oil throughput have raised GRMs by Rs. 867 crore during April to Dec’08 as compared to corresponding period previous year but stock loss and shrinking cracks resulted in this year’s GRM’s being significantly lower than those of the previous year’s, he added. He also said that these factors coupled with BRPL merger may result in Refineries Division showing negative margins in the 2008-09 balance sheet. He complimented both Digboi and Haldia Refineries for getting their CDM projects registered at UNFCCC. He added that these registrations are the firsts in the Indian refining sector. These proactive initiatives signify our concern to the protection of environment apart from earnings from these carbon credits. Similarly, he complimented both Barauni and Panipat refineries, for becoming the first two refineries in the country to get Excellence Award in implementation of TPM from Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance and urged other refineries to follow suit.
  • Informing about initiatives to conserve natural resources, he said that refineries have taken action to set up rainwater harvesting systems, reduce intake of fresh water and recycle treated waste water. This has led to reduction in fresh water intake by about 12% and increase in recycled treated effluent in the refineries.
  • Complimenting the Project Design & Engineering Cell (PDEC), he said that they had come out with an innovative solution of lowering the feed tray in the design of super fractionator of the Propylene recovery unit of PDRP which had not only led to cost savings but also eliminated the need for the second vapor compression unit to produce polymer grade polypropylene. He added that they had also designed an innovative SuperSour to enable enhanced recovery of H2S from conventional sour water strippers.
  • Talking about shipping activities, he said that subsequent to entering time chartering, the entire quantity of indigenous off-shore crude oil on the East and West coasts is being lifted through time charter vessels of Indian flag and that process is underway to acquire one VLCC on time charter basis. He added that (after commissioning of PHCPL) lighterage on the East coast has almost stopped.
  • Mentioning that the implementation of various projects was as per schedule, he said that timely implementation of MS quality projects in various refineries will be a big challenge.
  • Speaking about the challenges in commissioning of ongoing projects, he said that year 2009-10 will be a testing time as projects worth Rs. 30,000 crore are due for simultaneous commissioning. He urged the teams to create history by ensuring flawless commissioning of projects.

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Director (R&D)

  • Director(R&D) said that in the year 2008-09, R&D Centre charted another year of growth in which 9 patents received approval and another 13 were filed. He added that capex was almost doubled from 26 crore in 2007-08 to Rs. 57 crore in 2008-09. He informed that during the year 2009-10, it was planned to hike capex to 160 crore.
  • He further said that during the year 2008-09, R&D scientists spent 7500 mandays in providing technical support services which marked an increase of 2.3% over last year. However, during the year, there was a growth in sample failures sent for testing, which is an area of concern.
  • Informing about research in catalysts, he said that the hydroprocessing catalyst developed with M/s. Sud-Chemie is ready for testing and would be used in the production of Euro-IV quality Diesel.
  • He said that R&D Centre had carried out feasibility studies to run CBR at full capacity to produce valuable distillates using Indmax technology.
  • Talking of lubricants research, Director(R&D) informed that during 2008-09, 186 lubricant formulations were developed out of which 112 formulations were commercialized and 43 OEM / user approvals were received. He added that specialized coolants and lubricants developed for the Tata Nano have also been approved.
  • He added that with the growing presence of many Asian and European car/automakers besides Indian OEMs in India, the auto lubricants business is becoming highly competitive and OEM-driven. Therefore, in order to speed up the process of OEM approvals for IndianOil’s lubricants and greases, an interaction meeting of IndianOil R&D and Mktg. teams was held recently with OEM representatives. He added that the meeting was fruitful and time-bound action plans were drawn out to obtain quick approvals from leading OEMs such as GM, MSIL, Renault, Honda, Volkswagon besides Indian OEMs like TATA Motors, Ashok Layland and Mahindra & Mahindra.
  • Speaking on the significant breakthroughs achieved in alternative fuel research, he said that India’s first commercial H-CNG dispensing station has been was set up at Dwarka, Delhi, and plans are afoot to induct more vehicles in the demonstration / testing fleet to showcase the project in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.
  • He further said that the Biotechnology group is working on algal bio-fuels for isolation and characterization of algal strains with the objective of developing other sources for production of bio-fuels. Discussions are also underway with NREL, Department of Energy, US, for development of second generation ligno-cellulosic sources.
  • Speaking about fuel multi-functional additives, he said that R&D developed diesel MFA formulations have been further optimised to reduce input costs and create multiple vendors for the ingredients. The engine tests are being conducted and the selected formulations are presently under field trials, he added.
  • Informing about research in emerging areas of business, he said that work has started on setting up the petrochemical R&D facilities at the Centre in Faridabad in association with NCL, Pune and IIT. In addition to extending support to teams in Petrochemicals Marketing and PX/PTA, Panipat, the R&D Centre has also initiated research projects in the area of polymers.
  • He informed that IndianOil Technologies Ltd. (ITL) had generated revenues of Rs. 4.80 crore in the year 2008-09 and declared a dividend of Rs 52 lakhs.
  • Speaking about the research agenda in the year 2009-10, he said that focus would be on setting up world-class polymer research, revamping / upgrading biotechnology facilities, development of pilot Petcoke gasification facility, setting up pilot plant for research in the second generation bio-fuels, developing our own kerosene marker, improving technology for intelligent pigging and prevention of refinery corrosion, as well as to develop our scientists and enhance collaboration with other research institutions.
  • He concluded by paying rich tributes to Late Dr. P K Mukhopadhyay, former Director (R&D) who left for his heavenly abode on 15th March 2009.

Director (Pipelines)

  • Complimenting the team for excellent operational performance, Director(Pipelines) said that Pipelines have recorded the highest ever operational throughput of 59.38 million tonnes during the year, which is 4.6% higher than last year’s throughput of 56.69 million tones.
  • He also mentioned that prestigious projects like Paradip-Haldia crude oil pipeline and Panipat-Jalandhar LPG pipeline were among some of the projects commissioned during the year.
  • He informed that the length of pipeline network had crossed the 10,000 km mark (10,064 km to be precise), with a cumulative capacity of around 70 MMTPA (69.608 MMTPA). He added that during the current year, six more projects would be commissioned that would add 650 km in length and an additional 5 million tonnes per annum capacity to IndianOil’s pipeline infrastructure.
  • He commended the team’s efforts in commissioning IndianOil’s first wind power station of 21 MW capacity consisting of 14 wind turbine generators in the Kutchch district of Gujarat.
  • He also spoke about a significant milestone achieved by the Vadinar terminal in berthing the 4000th tanker in the last over three decades of operation without any untoward incident. He also mentioned that the 2nd SPM system commissioned in 1997, that was declared illegal by the Gujarat Government, had finally been cleared by the Supreme Court in IndianOIl’s favour. He clarified that the formal communication from the Gujarat Government in this regard was awaited.
  • Director(Pipelines) said that the online inspection of the 803-km long Viramgam-Mathura section of Salaya-Mathura Pipeline had been completed by intelligent pigging and preliminary reports had been received from M/s Rosen Europe B.V.,Netherlands.
  • Among the new projects at hand, he mentioned about the Paradip-New Sambalpur-Raipur-Ranchi pipeline, de-bottlenecking of SMPL system, and Kolkata and Guwahati ATF pipelines.
  • He shared that the network communication system was being upgraded from the legacy (point-to-point) communication to Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology to enable fast and secure communication between the various pipeline locations.
  • He concluded by saying that the Pipelines Division had bagged a contract for USD 737,960 to train new recruiters of GNPOC, Sudan, in pipeline operations and maintenance at their installation in Sudan. He added that the 16-month pipelines operations training will be completed in June 2009 and the 14-month pipelines maintenance training will be completed in August 2009.