Indian Oil celebrates first decade of operations in Sri Lanka

Lanka IOC PLC is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its operations in Sri Lanka today (29) launching a series of social service projects under the theme ‘We Care’.

To commemorate the tenth anniversary, two simultaneous blood donation camps will be held this morning both at its head office at the World Trade Centre in Colombo and also at the Trincomalee Oil Terminal where more than 250 people including staff, well wishers and business associates are expected to donate their blood. It is expected that the members of the three armed forces will also join in this noble cause at Trincomalee.

Lanka IOC Managing Director Subodh Dakwale will lead the blood donation campaign in Colombo while Senior Vice President S. Pradeep will similarly take the lead in Trincomalee.  

As a socially responsible corporate Lanka IOC has planned various other activities during the year such as a massive tree plantation drive across the country, donation of wheel chairs to the elders home etc. Apart from this LIOC has also planned to donate a fully equipped ambulance to the poor and underprivileged. 

The planting of a large number of saplings has been planned in a year-long activity which will start in the first week of September with the planting of about 1000 trees in the Bio Diversity Park behind the Parliament in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. 

Enhancing the environment has always got top billing in Lanka IOC PLC’s social service initiatives. Taking responsibility for the impact of its activities – directly or indirectly – on the environment, earlier this year it addressed the issue of global warming by encouraging, educating and engaging 1500 school children from 72 schools in the ‘Go Green’ project.

Conducted in co-ordination with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Education, this was Lanka IOC PLC’s first CSR project and took place over 2010 and 2011, covering most parts of Sri Lanka. 

“It is both with a sense of pride and satisfaction that we at Lanka IOC PLC look back at 10 successful years in Sri Lanka. During this period we have grown our operations exponentially and have made significant progress with the active co-operation of the Government and the people of Sri Lanka. It gives us a deep sense of humility and fulfilment to celebrate this important anniversary by giving back to society and thereby enriching the communities we work in. This is part of our objective of sustainable development,” said Dakwale.

“We consciously chose to be part of the Bio-Diversity Park and thereby contribute towards making the environment a cleaner place. Petroleum is the essential source of energy for any country but it also impacts the environment, we thus want to mitigate the adverse effects to the society by planting as many trees as possible. In fact our target is to facilitate the planting of 10,000 trees before the end of this 10th anniversary year,” Dakwale added.

After the incorporation of Lanka IOC in August 2002, the company carved a niche for itself in petroleum marketing by creating value for all its customers without compromising on quality and quantity. The company has made an investment of over $ 100 million in its retail network and has refurbished and upgraded the petrol sheds to world standards.

Ever since it took over operations of the China Bay tank farm ten years ago, Lanka IOC has made significant investments in developing the tank farm with a total investment of nearly $12 million for improving facilities for fuel handling and operations, modernising old storage tanks and building new ones, strengthening the jetty and construction of a lube blending plant of 18000 MTPA capacity. The company is also investing $17 million in the upper tank farm for creating a bitumen handling facility for which preliminary work has already started.