State-owned petroleum major Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) expects its Rs 18,919 crore Bhatinda refinery to be commissioned by the first quarter of the 2011-12 financial year, said chairman and managing director Arun Balakrishnan. He was speaking at the 56th annual general meeting of the company held here on Monday.
Balakrishnan further said that HPCL and Mittal Energy hold 49% each in the project; the rest is owned by financial institutions. He noted that HPCL and Mittal Energy will invest Rs 3, 800 crore each in equity in the project. HPCL has contributed Rs 718 crore thus far.
Balakrishnan also gave a synopsis of projects undertaken by HPCL in the 2007-08 fiscal while speaking at the AGM. He said that the commissioning of the Rs 1,756 crore, 1050 km long Mundra to Bahadurgarh (near Delhi) product pipeline of 5 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) capacity has improved availability of petrol and kerosene in northern India. He also mentioned that the ?Green Fuels Project? at Mumbai and Visakh refineries is nearing completion. When fully completed, the project will enable HPCL to produce and market Euro III/IV quality petrol.
HPCL had to raise resources from the market to meet additional fund requirements during the 2007-08 fiscal. Borrowings have gone up 60% from March 2007 levels due to higher burden of under recoveries and time lag between incurring of under-recoveries and realisation from oil bonds.
