HMEL’s refinery to be commissioned in early 2012

The Rs18,900 crore (US$3.78 billion) Guru Gobind Singh refinery of HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) in India is expected to be commissioned within two months. HMEL is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd., Singapore – a Lakshmi N. Mittal Group company. The two companies each hold a 49% stake in the joint venture, while the remaining 2% belongs to financial institutions. Work on the oil refinery began in 2007. Once it is commissioned, the refinery will begin producing high value petroleum products including LPG, naphtha, petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and petroleum coke. HPCL will sell the liquid products while the solid products such as sulphur, petroleum coke and polypropylene will be marketed by HMEL. The Guru Gobind Singh refinery will be one of the few refineries in India that can produce 440,000 metric tons of polypropylene. (November 14, 2011)