Essar to boost refining capacity

India’s Essar group will raise its total refining capacity to 680,000 barrels per day (bpd) by June 2010 by setting up a new plant and expanding capacity at an existing unit, a leading company official said. Essar plans to build a new 360,000 bpd refinery next to its existing plant at Vadinar in the coastal state of Gujarat, group adviser A.N. Sinha said. Owned by the Mumbai-based Ruias, Essar is the second largest private refiner in India’s state-dominated oil sector. (October 10, 2007)