HPCL plans new 20 million MTPY refinery

India’s state-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) is planning a 20 million metric ton per year (MTPY) grassroots refinery in the state of Maharashtra on the west coast of the country, company officials said on the sidelines of its annual shareholders meeting in Mumbai. Addressing shareholders, Chairman Subir Roy Choudhury said the plans for the new west coast refinery are a “certainty,” adding that a site has already been identified at Lote Parshuram in the coastal Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. A project feasibility study is taking place, with a report to be ready by March. The refinery is expected to cost Rs300 billion (US$6.6 billion). Restrictions on expanding capacity at its Mumbai refinery due to a lack of land availability have pushed HPCL to consider building a new refinery on the west coast, Choudhury said. (September 16, 2010)