Huge interest in LPG storage tanks
No one can dispute the huge interest Narendra Modi's pledge to provide free LPG cooking fuel has generated among state-owned oil companies and second tier contractors ready to help.
By November 29 a raft of small players had bid in an IndianOil invitation to bid for a contract to build three 900-tonne LPG storage tanks at Salem in Tamil Nadu, among them Fabtech Projects, IOT Anwesha Engineering, Vijay Tanks & Vessels, Sharp Tanks & Structurals, Fab-Tech Works & Constructions and Mahathi Infra Services. These same companies (bar Mahathi) but including Sonal Fabricators also bid on November 7 in an IOC tender for three 600-tonne tanks at Erode in Tamil Nadu; two 600-tonne tanks at Raninagar in West Bengal; two 900-tonne tanks in Lucknow; and two 600-tonne tanks in Varanasi.
IOC will supply the steel plates and the successful contractor has to manufacture and install the tanks, carry out civil work, cathodic protection, install a fire safety screen and instrumentation room. Two days later on November 9 BPCL received offers for a contract to build four 500-tonne tanks at Haldia in West Bengal.
