State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) said on Friday that it expects the full commissioning of the refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex at Barmer (Rajasthan) by end of the current calendar year.
The oil marketing company (OMC) expects full benefits of the refinery to accrue by March 2027.
HPCL holds 74 per cent stake in HPCL Rajasthan Refinery (HRRL), while Rajasthan government holds 26 per cent in the complex, which has a 9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) crude refining capacity, including 2.4 MTPA of petrochemicals.
Speaking at an analyst call, the HPCL management said: “We expect mechanical completion to be over by September 2025. Following that commissioning will happen. By December 2025, we expect commissioning of the refinery. Full benefits are expected by FY27.”
HPCL Director (Finance) and Additional Charge of CMD Rajneesh Narang, Director (Refineries) S Bharathan and Director (Corporate Finance) and CFO K Vinod answered analyst questions.
Refinery complex
HPCL has made around ₹13,000 crore in equity contributions so far for the refinery, while the total contribution to be made is about ₹18,000 crore.
The investment commitment made so far for HRRL is around ₹71,800 crore and its total debt is about ₹34,000 crore. HRRL has executed a loan agreement under consortium arrangement for ₹48,625 crore. The total project cost is ₹72,937 crore.
On project completion, the management said, “Most of the EPC contracts have been in place and some have even reached a stage of 95-96 per cent (completion). Soft cost will be coming. With commissioning in this calendar year being planned, we have to work out on the exact numbers, but nothing significant (cost) is likely to come.”
The project includes setting up a pipeline for transporting Rajasthan crude and imported crude, pipeline for transporting water to the refinery site, captive power plant for meeting power and steam requirement, crude and product storage facilities, township and allied facilities as well as utilities.
The complex will produce fuels such as BS-VI grade Motor Spirit (MS or Petrol), BS-VI grade High Speed Diesel (HSD or Diesel) and Petrochemical products such as Polypropylene, Butadiene, LLDPE, HDPE, Benzene and Toluene.
It will cater to the increased demand of petroleum and petrochemical products in the country and the Western, Northern and Central parts of India in particular.
Visakh refinery
BPCL management also said that it is working on “de-bottlenecking” the Visakh (Visakhapatnam) refinery, which will help in enhancing its capacity to around 17 mtpa.
The first east coast refinery of India, the Visakh refinery has a capacity of around 13.7 MTPA. Currently, it manufactures LPG, Propylene, Naphtha, MS, ATF, SKO, HSD, LDO, LSHS, IFO, Bitumen, Sulphur, VLSFO, etc.
These products are evacuated to the marketing terminals, coastally moved through tankers and also transferred through cross-country pipeline from Visakhapatnam to Secunderabad via Vijayawada.