HPCL proposes refinery tie-up with Total, Mittal

State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), in a tie-up with steel baron Lakshmi Mittal and French oil major Total, announced a proposal in October to build a 15 million metric ton per year refinery and a petrochemical complex at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state in southern India, HPCL Chairman Arun Balakrishnan said. A memorandum of understanding was signed to study the feasibility of the project. The equity structure and a precise project cost would be worked out after the feasibility study is completed, he added. This is the second refinery venture for HPCL and Mittal. (October 19, 2007)