Nagarjuna Oil's refinery project at Cuddalore is to be delayed by a minimum of three months due to damage to tanks and port structure from the recent cyclone Thane.

Tamil Nadu's largest private sector project with an investment of around Rs 10,000 crore was to go on stream on March 1, but last month's cyclone that devastated the Cuddalore-Puducherry region has upset plans.

There was minimal damage on works done by the company but major damage to the tanks and the port structure being done by partners under the build, own, operate and transfer basis. “We can commission only after the oil tanks and the port is ready,” said a company official on anonymity.

The partners have to come up with the revised schedule, he said.

On March 1, the 6-million-tonne (Ph-I) refinery was to commission the crude distribution and vacuum distribution units. The refinery is being built over 1,600 acres, located 155 km south of Chennai, between Cuddalore and Chidambaram.

The project was planned in July 2001 but work started in 2006 after getting all the clearances, he said.

The Government of India has declared Nagarjuna's Cuddalore project as the anchor unit for its Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region in the Cuddalore-Nagapattinam region. This will cause investments of around Rs 13,000 crore in infrastructure around the refinery, he said.

In NOCL, the Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna group holds a 51 per cent stake in the refinery and Tata Sons has a 30 per cent stake. The remainder is held by the German contractor Uhde, Cuddalore Port Development and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation.

>raja@thehindu.co.in

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