The port-to-hinterland highway will also be able to bring in imported petroleum products, if necessary. The Rs 1500-crore project will be implemented under the Petronet India Limited (PIL) banner and will be the pipeline company's biggest venture, so far.

The pipeline is scheduled to be commissioned in the 2002-2003 fiscal, in time to evacuate the output of the Eastern India Refinery from the east coast to the oil market hub, up north. The nine-million-tonne-capacity grassroots refinery, being jointly promoted by Indian Oil and Kuwait Petroleum, is slated to be commissioned in May 2002.

By that year, the demand for petroleum products at home is expected to shoot up to 117 million tonne, from 90 million tonne at present. The oil refining capacity within the country is estimated to soar to113 million tonne, with the commissioning of new refineries, leaving a scope for roughly 18 million tonne of imports.

Along with its refining capacities, poised to shoot up to 36 million tonne by 2002, from 25 million tonne now, IndianOil is also gearing up its pipeline infrastructure in time for the demand boom. The capacities of its product pipeline will soar to 28.95 million tonne by 2002-2003, from 16.75 million tonne per annum at present.

In keeping with a policy decision taken by the Union petroleum ministry, all product pipelines of the future will be set up by Petronet India Limited. The Paradip-Ranchi-Allahabad pipeline will initially have a throughput of six million tonne per year.

A Rs 782.04 crore marketing terminal conceived near the Rs 8270 crore refinery, will evacuate the remaining three million tonne of the Eastern India Refinery's output. The terminal will have facilities for moving out oil from the refinery by rail, road and sea.

It will have tankage, docklines and road loadingfacilities, apart from the usual trappings of oil terminals. The detailed feasibility report of the marketing terminal has already been submitted to the Union petroleum ministry.

The Paradip to Allahabad underground highway is awaiting a nod from the Petronet India board, expected to meet shortly. The holding company for all future petroleum product pipelines will have a 26 per cent stake in the Paradip-Ranchi-Allahabad pipeline.

IndianOil's shareholding in the project will also be 26 per cent, in keeping with the Petronet India tradition of offering a controlling stake to the ``lead operator'' of a pipeline. So far four petroleum product pipelines have been initiated under the Petronet banner.

Petronet India Limited Paradip-Ranchi-Allahabad will be the fifth subsidiary of the holding company and its most ambitious project. Among the pipelines promoted by Petronet India so far is the 100 km-long Vadinar-Kandla project, set up to evacuate the output of the Reliance Petroleum and Essar Oilrefineries.

IndianOil is the lead operator of the pipeline. It is also the lead operator of the Chennai-Trichy-Madurai product pipeline.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited is the lead operator of the 400 km-long Cochin-Karur pipeline, that will evacuate the output of Cochin Refineries Limited. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is the lead operator of Petronet India's Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline, which is also roughly 400 km-long.

The pipeline will transport petroleum products from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (MRPL) near the southern tip of the country to customers up north, near the Vindyas.