HPCL inks refinery, petchem MoU

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday signed a MoU with the Rajasthan government for the development of a refinery and petrochemicals complex.

Planned for construction near Barmer, the facility will have capacity of 9 million tonnes per annum, India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said. The project represents an investment of close to USD 6.5 billion.

Construction plans have been around for some 5 years, with the first MoU with the Rajasthan government signed in March 2013. The project was essentially shelved when the new local administration withdrew its fiscal incentives. In the original plans, feedstock was to be sourced from nearby Cairn India discoveries in the Barmer oilfields.

Labelling the Wednesday signing ceremony a “historic moment,” Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the project had the potential to “transform” the lives of the people in Rajasthan. He added that the Barmer refinery would be able to process both Rajasthan crude and imported oil.