The Hindu Business Line : KoPT may incur Rs 180-cr loss once IOC pipeline becomes operational

KOLKATA: The scheduled commissioning of Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) Paradip-Haldia pipeline later this year will reduce the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT)'s annual revenue by Rs 180 crore by bringing down the cargo movement in the three oil jetties of the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC).

"Once the pipeline becomes operational, HDC will lose an annual cargo inflow of 18 million tonne in petroleum and its products. Given that HDC earns about Rs 100 per tonne, the loss works up to Rs 180 crore,'' Secretary of the Haldia Dock Officers' Forum (HDOF) R K Burman told PTI.

Besides, the three oil jetties at HDC, set up at a cost of about Rs 75 crore, would be not be utilized fully, Mr Burman said, adding that the Shipping Corporation of India whose vessels 'lighter-aged' the cargo to Haldia, would also lose the IOC traffic.

With the depth of the Hooghly ranging from six to nine metre between Sagar and Haldia, it is not possible for the IOC to bring in VLCC or ULCC vessels directly to Haldia for discharge of cargo. These vessels with a parcel size of 3 lakh to 4 lakh tonne and a draft requirement of at least 20 metre, have to wait at the Port anchorage in the Sandheads for discharging the cargo into the Shipping Corporation of India vessels.

"Since the VLCC and ULCC vessels had to wait for 10 to 15 days for discharge of their cargo into the SCI vessels, the IOC had to bear demurrage running into several lakhs daily. It made sense for the IOC, therefore, to build the pipeline from Paradip to Haldia to avoid the demurrage,'' he said. - PTI

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