9 million tonne capacity Bhatinda petro refinery inaugurated in India

Bhatinda, Apr 28 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan today inaugurated a USD 4.0 billion petroleum refinery at Bhatinda in the northern Indian state of Punjab built by a joint venture company owned by an Indian state-owned oil major and billionaire non-resident Indian business magnate Lakshmi N. Mittal. The Guru Gobind Singh Refinery of HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) -- a joint venture of Mittal Energy Investments and state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) -- has a capacity of 9.0 million tonnes a year. HPCL and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd, Singapore - a Lakshmi Mittal Group company, hold 49 per cent stake each in HMEL, while 2 per cent is held by financial institutions. The refinery has high Nelson Complexity Index which will enable maximising value-added products even from heavy/sour crudes. Crude oil to the refinery is to be ferried through a 1,014 km pipeline from Mundra on the western Indian coast in Gujarat where the oil is imported from abroad. The refinery will produce fuel meeting Euro-III and IV standards. Dedicating the unit, Prime Minister Singh said the new refinery is an example of what the public and the private sectors can achieve in partnership with each other. The products from this refinery will especially help in bridging the gap between demand and supply in the northern region of the country. Stating that the refinery sector in India has grown phenomenally, he said the nation has emerged as a refining hub with capacity increasing from 62 million tonne per annum in 1998 to 213 million tonne now. "We have sufficient refining capacity to enable us to export petroleum products," the Prime Minister said. Start-up of Bhatinda refinery is expected to help boost India's exports and may open fuel sales to Pakistan. After removing non-tariff barriers on November 2, Pakistan allows imports of fuels including petrol and diesel from India. The distance between Bathinda and Lahore is about 150 km. Speaking on the occasion, Mittal said the 9 million tonne a year unit will help in energy security of the country and make Punjab a petrochemical hub. The capacity of the refinery can be increased to 18 million tonne per annum in future, he added. The refinery is the first investment in downstream oil sector by Mittal, Chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker. Mittal Energy has a venture with state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which has offshore oil exploration blocks in Nigeria. PTI Caption for pic: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh having a look at a model of the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Bhatinda, Punjab, during its inauguration on Saturday. Also seen in pic are Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil (2R), Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal (R) and Industrialist Laxmi Mittal (C). PTI Photo