Feb 14, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government plans to implement a streamlined programme to revive the loss-making state institution, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), the new Petroleum Industries Minister, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa has said.

Addressing a function held at the CPC today to welcome him, the Minister has said that the services of the CPC will be enhanced as one of the prime institutions in the country and urged the employees of the Corporation to provide their dedicated contribution to achieve success.

The program to be implemented will introduce changes to commercial activities and will build confidence on the standards of the Corporation's products.

Ten tanks belonging to the Sapugaskanda refinery will be renovated to increase the capacity of the refinery and new pipelines will be laid to replace the aging pipelines. Renovation of the refinery is also under consideration, the Minister has revealed.

The CPC has been running at a loss for years and an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission recently visited the country suggested the CPC and Sri Lanka's power supplier, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to revise rate structure to prevent further losses.

The state-owned petroleum supplier incurred losses of approximately Rs. 95 billion last year, according to its Managing Director Susantha De Silva, mainly due to supplying fuel for other state institutions at subsidized prices.

Governor of Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal also suggested price revisions for CPC and CEB in his Economic Roadmap in 2013 as the state debt has risen due to the heavy losses suffered by the two major state institutions.