Comments
Saudi Aramco is exploring opportunities to invest in the West Coast refinery in a bid to expand its footprint in India.
In response to a query whether Saudi Aramco has expressed interest for investing in the West Coast refinery, Minister for Petroleum Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Yes, they have shown interest.”
Pradhan was speaking at the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek.
PSU downstream companies Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil are preparing the plans for the West Coast refinery. IOC is currently the lead partner for the project with 50 per cent stake, while HPCL and BPCL hold 25 per cent stake each.
The 60- million tonnes per annum (MTPA) refinery-cum-petrochemicals complex is estimated to cost $40 billion and is expected to be commissioned by 2022 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
Pradhan said, “India will remain one of the fastest growing energy markets in the world in the coming two decades. Both on account of increasing access and better life styles, there will be growth in per capita energy consumption. We will be an influential buyer in the global energy market.”
While addressing a session at the India Energy Forum, President and Chief Executive Officer at Saudi Aramco, Amin H Nasser had said, “We are looking at investment opportunities in the Indian downstream sector and at investment in Indian companies across hydrocarbon value chain.”
He also said that Aramco is looking to partner with Indian petrochemical companies.
Addressing journalists, NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant later said, “Aramco is interested in investing in India. The company opened its office in India on Sunday and intends to invest $ 300 billion over the next 3 to 4 years.”
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.