Oil and gas PSUs resume work on 511 projects that will create 7 cr man-days of work

• The projects are expected to generate 7 crore man-days of employment

• They will generate a payment of Rs 2,210 crore in the first month itself

New Delhi: Oil and gas PSUs, under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, have resumed work on 511 projects, worth approximately Rs 2 lakh crore, on Monday. The projects are expected to generate 7 crore man-days of employment, the Petroleum Ministry said in a tweet. The news comes as certain restrictions were lifted on April 20, in keeping with the lockdown guidelines issued by the government. The ministry said that the operations have been resumed under conditional lockdown to mitigate the economic challenges posed by the pandemic.

"Oil & gas PSUs of MoPNG have started operations for over 511 projects today with an approximate project cost of Rs 2 lakh crores post- lifting of restrictions for certain services and activities w.e.f 20th April, 2020," the ministry said in a tweet.

These oil and gas projects will generate Rs 2,210 cr in first month

In a series of tweets, the ministry said that the projects, which span across refineries, pipelines, marketing, infrastructure and CGD, will generate a payment of Rs 2,210 crore in the first month itself. "These projects including in refineries, pipelines, marketing and infrastructure, CGD etc. will generate a payout of ₹2210 crores in the 1st month, including ₹266 crore for labour. The projects are also targeted to incur an expenditure of about ₹42,790 crores in FY 2020-21 (sic)," the ministry said in a tweet.

Oil & gas PSUs of MoPNG have started operations for over 511 projects today with an approximate project cost of ₹2 lakh crores post- lifting of restrictions for certain services and activities w.e.f 20th April, 2020. pic.twitter.com/qjH6wvPu2R

— Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (@PetroleumMin) April 20, 2020

These oil and gas projects are targeted to incur an expenditure of about Rs 42,790 crore in FY 2020-21. While more details on the nature of these projects is awaited, IndianOil has said in a tweet that they have resumed construction of two major pipeline projects along Ennore, Trichy and Chennai, among other locations. Bharat Petroleum has started the construction of a new retail outlet in Champaner village Panchmahal district in Gujarat, it said in a tweet. GAIL, on the other hand, has resumed work on Chandragiri River HDD crossing site Kochi-Koottanad-Bengaluru-Mangaluru Pipeline Project which has an estimated cost of Rs 4,815 crore, it said in a tweet.

The backdrop

The oil and gas PSU sector has already contributed over Rs 1,031 crore to the PM CARES fund to help the government fight the COVID pandemic. ONGC has been the topmost contributor with an amount of Rs 300 crore, followed by IndianOil which has chipped in Rs 225 crore. While BPCL has committed Rs 175 crore, HPCL has pledged a support of Rs 120 crore. GAIL has contributed Rs 50 crore and Oil India has offered Rs 38 crore from its CSR fund.