IOC blames state government for unavailability of Petroleum products
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, January 30, 2011: The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) blamed the state government for the unavailability of petroleum products in the state even when there are adequate stocks of the product in the state.

IOC will be upgrading infrastructures for uninterrupted supply of the products to the public.

Speaking in a press meet at Hotel Classic, Imphal, Director Marketing IOC, GC Daga said that IOC supplies petroleum products throughout the country regularly without interruption.

Unfortunately people in Manipur faced an acute shortage of petroleum products in the early part of last year.

In order to overcome the shortage, IOC had even airlifted the products to Manipur.

The situation is better now.

There are plenty of petroleum products in stock.

However the state is facing a shortage of LPG due to the ceasework strike of drivers after the abduction of two drivers and a handyman of a LPG bullet tanker in Karbi Anglong district of Assam.

IOC now plans to provide security protection to truckers on NH 39. While IOC is bringing in petroleum products in the state, the corporation is facing a major problem of keeping the stocks since the oil depot and gas bottling plant are too small.

The problem will be resolved soon as the corporation will be building adequate infrastructures in the state with a total cost of ` 35 crores.

An oil depot will be built at Nambol for which required land has been bought from the state government.

The oil depot will have a total capacity of petrol, diesel and kerosene oil for 60 days.

The gas bottling plant at Sekmai has a capacity of 10 days' stock.

The plant will be upgraded to store the capacity of a 30 day stock.

As soon the infrastructure development is completed, there will be no shortage of petroleum products in the state, he said.

Talking about the unavailability of the products the state is facing right now, he said that the poor policy of the Manipur government is the prime cause of the present condition of the availability of the products.

There are 22 KL MT of kerosene, 12 KL MT of petrol and 11 KL MT of diesel in stock in the oil depot at Chingmeirong.

There is no shortage of kerosene oil in the state, Daga said.

The state government should arrest the owners of the oil pumps who sell the products in the black market and take legal action against them.

Adulterated fuel being sold by an oil pump, should be reported to IOC which will take stringent action, Daga said.

General Manager, IOC NE A Pandiyan, DyGM (LPG) NE AC Sharma, Dy GM (Operation) P Anwalagan and Chief Retail Sales Manager Dipak Anand Bharti also attended the press meet today.

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