By IANS
New Delhi : Petroleum Minister Murli Deora Monday inaugurated the Visakhapatanam-located liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cavern storage of South Asia LPG Company Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of state-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and French oil major Total, said an official statement.
The minister also participated in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of HPCL’s Visakhapatnam refinery.
“The facility has helped the country join the select group of advanced nations,” Deora was quoted as saying in his address on this occasion in the statement.
According to the statement, the cavern has a storage capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes of LPG and is the largest single-point storage in the country.
The large cavern storage will help in ensuring uninterrupted availability of LPG on the east coast and will bring down LPG transportation by using very large gas carriers (VLGC), the official release said.
According to the official statement, underground caverns are among the safest mode of storage and are also environment-friendly.
They are isolated from external hazards like fire, war, sabotage, explosions and natural calamities, the statement said.