BPR is a part of IOC's future plan to quadruple its pipeline capacity from 43 mmtpa to 170 mmtpa and the refining capacity from 90 mmtpa to 340 mmtpa under its own `Vision 2025'.

The entire exercise costing about Rs 150 crore has been undertaken by IOC's pipeline division for total integration of business solutions and is scheduled to be completed by October 2001.

According to IOC chairman MA Pathan, the 141-km Sayala-Viramgam-Koyali pipeline `augmentation project' commissioned on Wednesday, three months ahead of schedule, alone has helped the company reduce the cost of the project by as much as 33 per cent from Rs 306 crore to Rs 200 crore.

He disclosed that IOC planned to invest Rs 60,000 crore down the line, including Rs 35,000 crore on refinery, Rs 10,000 crore on pipelines, Rs 10,000 crore on marketing, Rs 5,000 crore on power, Rs 3,000 crore on oil exploration and Rs 1,000 crore on research and development (R&D).

IOC has also set a mid-term target of increasing the refining capacity from 36 mmtpa to 88 mmtpa by the end of Tenth Plan in 2007. This included refineries of 9 mmtpa each at Paradeep and Nagapattinam. Pathan informed that IOC has signed an MoU with Enbridge International Inc of Canada for adoption of high-tech in the design, construction management, benchmarking and investment in cross-country pipelines and abroad, including 505 km Chennai-Trichi-Madurai and 115 km Vadinar-Kandla pipelines.

He said the Vision 2025 was not just a dream but a need-based planning to meet a 6-9 per cent growth rate in the coming years.