Sunday, Mar 02, 2003
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Tamil Nadu
By Our Staff Reporter
The Petroleum Ministry, he said inaugurating an oil jetty of the Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited here today, was keen on the sugar mills beginning supply of ethanol, for use as a five per cent blend in petrol, by April. "Though we want to purchase from them (as against importing the cane byproduct from other States), they are not fully equipped. The State Government should coordinate and ensure their requirement, as launch of ethanol-blended petrol would ultimately benefit the sugarcane farmers." "While we are ready to give more time, it would mean delaying the progress," he said, pointing out that he had spoken about this to the Agriculture Minister, R. Jeevanantham, who earlier urged Mr. Naik to encourage use of jatropha oil seeds as a blend in diesel. Stating that ethanol-blend petrol was scheduled to be launched in the State by June, Mr. Naik listed, among others, the recent decision on royalty payment to the States for crude production as the achievements of his Ministry. Consequent to the decision — revising the royalty rates payable for crude oil by the Centre — Tamil Nadu would receive arrears of Rs. 17 crores for the past periods up to March 2002. "It would also benefit thereafter as royalty would be paid at the rate of 20 per cent on an advalorem basis depending on price of crude oil produced in the State." Responding to an appeal by a previous speaker, the Mr. Naik urged the locals to select a name of their choice for the oil jetty. The Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Santosh Gangwar, said CPCL's oil jetty, to facilitate smooth crude supply to its Cauvery Basin Refinery, had the potential to become a landmark on the Tamil Nadu coast. Earlier, the State Transport Minister, R. Vishwanathan, urged Mr. Naik to consider supplying diesel at subsidised rates for use by the State Transport undertakings (STUs). Every rupee increase in the price of diesel led to an additional burden of Rs. 50 crores for the STUs, which were already in the red. Friday's announcement increasing the diesel price by Rs.1.50 per litre diesel, resulted in a loss of Rs.75 crores and the "frequent and sudden revisions" were beyond the capacity of the STUs to bear. The Centre could stop passing the impact of the global crude prices by "adjusting the duty," he said. The Nagapattinam MP, A.K.S Vijayan, urged Mr. Naik to direct the oil companies operating in the region to create a fund for laying and maintenance of roads, which have been damaged due to the movement of oil tankers. Apart from seeking renaming of the refinery as Maraimalai Adigalar Refinery, he wanted oil exploration operations of the ONGC in the area intensified.
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