HPCL to commission Barmer refinery by January 2025: S Bharathan

Betul: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) will commission the country's newest oil refinery at Barmer in Rajasthan by January next year that will help meet rising fuel demand in the north India, a senior company executive said.

"The 9 million tonnes a year refinery is 76 per cent mechanically complete and will be completed by year end or so. First product from the refinery will flow in December or January next year," HPCL director for refineries S Bharathan told reporters on the sidelines of India Energy Week here. The project is part of India's target of having an installed capacity to turn 450 million tonnes of crude oil into fuels such as petrol and diesel to meet the energy needs of the world's fastest growing major economy.

India's current refining capacity is a shade under 254 million tonnes.

He said the Barmer refinery will operate at 75 per cent to 80 per cent of the capacity in the first year as various units get commissioned. "The full capacity will be reached by 2027." HPCL currently operates two refineries at Mumbai and Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. It also has a joint venture refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab.

The Vizag facility has just been expanded to 15 million tonnes from 8.33 million tonnes previously.

The company sells more fuel than it currently produces and the Vizag expansion as well as Barmer refinery will bridge the gap. It controls roughly a fourth of petrol pumps in the country but just 13 per cent of the refining capacity.

The Barmer refinery will also have a petrochemical complex, which will be commissioned a little later, he said.

The refinery-cum-petrochemical complex is being built by joint venture company HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Ltd (HRRL), where HPCL holds 74 per cent stake and the Rajasthan government the remaining 26 per cent.

The project was conceived in 2008 and was initially approved in 2013. It was reconfigured and work commencement was done in 2018.

It will produce BS-VI grade petrol and diesel as well as petrochemical products like polypropylene, butadiene, linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), benzene and toluene and is slated to cater to the increased demand of petroleum and petrochemical products in the northern, western and central parts of India.

The refinery-cum-petrochemical complex will cost Rs 72,937 crore.