Indian Oil Corporation chose Dhamra coast in Odisha's Bhadrak district for setting up a natural gas terminal at an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.

In future, IOC plans to raise the capacity of the terminal by above 10 mn mtpa per annum. IOCL and the state government would jointly promote necessary infrastructure in Odisha for distribution of natural gas for industries and city gas distribution.

The state-run oil marketing company (OMC) signed an MoU with state-owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha for this project.

IOC expects to complete the terminal construction work by 2018. It expects the project to ensure distribution of natural gas to domestic users, auto-industries and others.

About 150 acre of land is required for the purpose and IOCL has already signed an MoU with the Dhamra Port Company (DPCL).

The state agencies have already assessed the requirement and demand of natural gas and subsequent development of necessary infrastructure so as to make gas reach the demand of the centres.

As IOCL's two pipelines -- from Surat to Paradip and another from Andhra Pradesh to Haldia -- were under construction, the proposed terminal would be helpful for the purpose of delivering natural gas to different cities of the state.