IOC clarified on LPG deal with Adani Ports
[ad_1]
Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra had raised questions over IOC’s LPG import hub being made without any tender for Gangavaram Port, operated under Adani Ports and SEZ.
Public sector petroleum company Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) on Thursday clarified on the initial agreement to link Adani Group’s port at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh with it for import of LPG, saying that it has a ‘lo-or-‘ with the group. Pay’ is not settled. Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra had raised questions over IOC’s LPG import hub being made without any tender for Gangavaram Port, operated under Adani Ports and SEZ.
While clarifying its position on Moitra’s allegation, the IOC expressed a different opinion from Adani Ports and SEZ’s statement that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard. In a statement issued after announcing its quarterly results, Adani Ports had said, “An MoU has been signed with IOC on a ‘Take-or-Pay’ agreement for construction of LPG storage facility at Gangavaram Port.
Describing this statement of Adani group company as ‘open theft’, Moitra said on Twitter on Wednesday that neither any tender was issued for this nor any CVC standard was followed. Tagging Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) in his tweet, he had said, ‘Business is being moved from Vizag port to Gangavaram. After coal, gas is now being taken out of the stove of every family. Embarrassing.’ On this allegation, the IOC tried to clear its position on Thursday through several tweets.
“IOC has so far signed only one non-binding MoU with APSEZ. There is no binding agreement or ‘pay-or-pay’ agreement as of now. Along with this, the public petroleum company said that it does not issue any tender while choosing a port for import of LPG. IOC said, “Oil marketing companies evaluate the infrastructure facilities available at a reasonable cost for availing the services of an LPG terminal. No separate tender is invited for this.
The petroleum company said it imports LPG at several ports including Kandla, Mundra, Dahej, Mumbai, Mangaluru, Haldia, Vizag and Ennore. Apart from this, LPG import terminals are also being built in Kochi and Paradip, which will be used further. The IOC said that the Gangavaram port would have facilities for offloading of LPG to larger vessels. With this, the use of Vizag port will also continue.
Disclaimer:IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
[ad_2]
Source link
