Capex push! HPCL to raise refining, petchem capacity by 2024: CMD

Public sector oil refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) is increasing its crude oil refining capacity by 17.7 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) and will have around 4.1 MMTPA of petrochemical capacity by 2024 to meet India’s growing energy demands.

HPCL currently has around 25 MMTPA of refining capacity, including joint ventures, which will increase to around 45 MMTPA by 2024, chairman and managing director Mukesh Kumar Surana told Fortune India.

The company is enhancing its refinery capacity from 7.5 MMTPA to 9.5 MMTPA at its Mumbai plants, and from 8.3 MMTPA to 15 MMTPA in Visakhapatanam. A new greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex coming up at Pachpadra in Barmer district of Rajasthan will add another 9 MMTPA of capacity. The HPCL Rajasthan Refinery (HRRL) is a joint venture between HPCL and the Government of Rajasthan, with 74% equity participation by the former and 26% by the latter. "In Rajasthan, out of 9 MMTPA, around 2.4 MMTPA will be petrochemicals. Additionally we have got 9.3-MMTPA capacity at Bathinda in a joint venture and there we will have a petrochemical plant of 1.7-MMTPA capacity, which will be completed this year itself,” says chairman and MD Mukesh Kumar Surana.

The Mumbai refinery expansion project has been completed as the units have been commissioned during the last quarter and are now in the stabilisation phase, adds Surana. The Vizakh refinery expansion project is in its final stages and will start commissioning units by the last quarter of FY22. The expansions will help bring out more environment-friendly fuels and add to refining margins.

Capital expenditure for the Mumbai and Vizag refinery expansion projects was around ₹31,000 crore, adds Surana. Out of this, only ₹7,000-8,000 crore worth of investment is left for Vizag expansion. HPCL Rajasthan Refinery invested close to ₹13,000 in the state. Put together its own and those in JV projects, HPCL has invested over ₹1 lakh crore to set up modern refining infrastructure over the years, says Surana.

HPCL is building a 5-MMTPA LNG regasification terminal, which can be further expanded to 10 MMTPA in future, at Chhara port (Gir Somnath district) in Gujarat. This is likely to be completed by 2022-end.

The company is also increasing its pipeline capacity from 3,700 km to 5,500 km at an investment of over ₹10,000 crore by extending the Visakh-Vijayawada-Secunderabad pipeline from Vijayawada to Dharmapuri, Hassan-Cherlapally LPG pipeline and Barmer Palanpur pipeline, says Surana.