HPCL-Mittal Energy to pump in $3 bn into Bathinda refinery

New Delhi, May 5 

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and its partner Lakshmi N Mittal will invest around $3 billion in setting up a petrochemical complex at their Bathinda refinery in Punjab.

HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL), a joint venture between HPCL and Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd, Singapore, plans to set up an up to 1.7-million tonne naphtha cracker unit to produce basic raw material that goes into making of plastics.

“It will be a 1.2-million tonne plant, expandable to 1.7 MT,” HPCL Chairman and Managing Director MK Surana said here.

Though setting up a petro-chemical plant takes up to four years, HMEL plans to fast-track the process to build it in lesser time.

“We have land and other infrastructure at the Bathinda refinery,” he said, adding that the project will be formally announced shortly after investment approvals.

He said the $350 million expansion of Bathinda refinery capacity to 11.25 MT per annum from the current 9 MT will be completed next month.

The refinery has taken its first 45-day maintenance shutdown to complete hooking up of the new units, he said, adding that additional volumes will cater to growth in demand in northern India.

This will be HPCL’s first petrochemical plant in Northern India. The company has refineries in Mumbai and Visakhapatnam.

HPCL and steel baron Mittal are equal partners in the Bathinda refinery in Punjab. HPCL and Mittal Investment Sarl hold 48.94% stake each in HMEL while the balance is with financial institutions.

HMEL had also plans to expand Bathinda refinery capacity further to 10 MT, but Surana did not speak on the same. — PTI