Mittal is getting a senior bureaucrat from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to run his first-ever venture in the refining business, the Rs 18,919 crore Bhatinda refinery.

Prabh Das, Joint Secretary (Refineries) in MoPNG, is likely to join Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Ltd (GGSRL), the company implementing the 9 million tons refinery project in Punjab, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

"He is a good and capable man. We thought he can be of immense help in completing the much delayed project," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.

Das, a 1981 batch Indian Administrative Service officer from West Bengal cadre, will go on deputation to the project that was first conceptualised over a decade ago and is now slated for completion in 2010-11. Das last week made a flying visit to London for a pre-assignment meeting with Mittal.

"Mittal (who was last month allowed to pick 49 per cent stake in GGSRL, the same as Hindustan Petroleum) is coming to India later this month and we plan to go to Bhatinda to review project progress," Deora said.

Das, 50, is an electrical engineer and holds an MBA degree and has been looking after the refineries wing in MoPNG since March 2003. His five year term with Centre is to expire next year.

Deora said Mittal's investment in Bhatinda is the single largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the refining sector and his coming on board has helped the project take off.

The balance two per cent stake is with financial institutions.

Mittal Energy Investments Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Mittal Investments, has parked 110 million dollars in an escrow account as guarantee for its 49 per cent stake in the 9 million tons Bhatinda refinery project.

The project is being financed in 1.5:1 debt-equity ratio.

Total equity investment by Mittal and HPCL would be Rs 3,577.50 crore each. The two partners would appoint three members each on GGSRL board and rotate the chairman's job every two years.

Government had last month made a one-time exception in FDI norms for refineries to accommodate Mittal in the project.

At present, there is a 26 per cent cap on FDI in a public sector refinery.

The investment by Mittal of Rs 3,577.50 crore (or about 5 per cent of total FDI in 2006-07) is the first and the largest FDI brought into the petroleum-refining sector, Deora said.

Bhatinda refinery, which also involves laying a 1,011-km pipeline from Mundra in Gujarat for transportation of crude oil, has a history of failed joint ventures with companies such as Saudi Aramco and British Petroleum walking out of the project previously.

HPCL chairman and managing director Arun Balakrishnan had earlier this month stated that the project would achieve financial closure by month end.

The project is configured to process low cost sour and difficult crudes and convert them into high value products like petrol, diesel and LPG, he had said. Petrol and diesel quality would comply with Euro-IV emission norms.

About 1,993 acres of land for the project has already been acquired at Bhatinda in Punjab and GGSRL will select process licensors by end of this month, he had added.