The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will tomorrow inaugurate the $4-billion refinery built by a joint venture of state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and steel czar Mr Lakshmi N. Mittal’s investment firm.

The 9-million tonne refinery of HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) will be dedicated to the nation at a function scheduled at 11.30 am on April 28 at village Phullokhari near here, official sources said.

The Oil Minister, Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, and the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, are likely to be present at the function.

The $4-billion plant is the newest refinery to be commissioned in the country. HMEL is a joint venture between HPCL and Mittal Energy Investment.

Mr Mittal, who is the Chairman & CEO of ArcelorMittal, and Mr S. Roy Choudhury, Chairman of HMEL and CMD of HPCL, would also be present at the function, sources said.

Bhatinda refinery is Mr Mittal’s first venture in downstream oil sector. His upstream oil and gas exploration venture with the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation hasn’t been a great success and he has gradually withdrawn from almost all projects, say industry experts.

HPCL and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd, Singapore, a Lakshmi Mittal Group company, hold 49 per cent stake each in HEML, while 2 per cent is held by financial institutions.

The refinery has high Nelson Complexity Index which will enable maximising value-added products even from heavy/sour crudes. Crude oil to the refinery is to be ferried through a 1,014-km pipeline from Mundra in Gujarat where the oil is imported from abroad.

The refinery will meet the growing fuel requirements of the market in north India.

The refinery has raised the total oil refining capacity in the country to 216.066 million tonnes per annum from 198.886 million tonnes.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW