MRPL keen on getting phase-III started by Dec

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) wants its phase-III unit to be fully operational by December.

Speaking to Business Line at his office here on Wednesday, the new Managing Director, Mr P. P. Upadhya, said that for the next six months his focus will be more on the phase-III project. It will be “margin driver and will drive our future business,” he said.

However, Mr Upadhya said, the main problem in commissioning phase-III is the delay in the completion of the captive power plant by BHEL.

The main components of phase-III, such as coker and FCC (fluid catalytic cracking) units, are energy consuming ones. “We are not able to start them, as the captive power plant is not yet ready. Now they (BHEL) are saying that they will complete it by July-end,” he said. “The entire phase-III should be operational by December, if they give us the power plant by July. Pre-commissioning of the refinery is a long process. It requires at least three-four months,” he said. The captive power plant would supply around 110 MW to the refinery. According to the original schedule, the captive power plant should have been commissioned in April last year.

MRPL took up phase-III project in August 2008 to expand the processing capacity of the refinery from 11.82 million tonnes a year (mt) to 15 mt a year, and to upgrade the low-value products into high-value ones.

Mr Upadhya said that the Karnataka Government has given MRPL a good package for phase-III. It has exempted the company from entry tax on plant, machinery and crude oil, and offered interest-free loans for 15 years.

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