HPCL to spend $2.5 bn on Vizag unit expansion

New Delhi: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation plans to invest $ 2.5 billion (over Rs 9,961 crore) in expanding its Visakhapatnam refinery capacity to 16 million tonnes, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

HPCL plans to debottleneck units at the Visakhapatnam refinery to augment the throughput to 10 million tonnes from current 7.5 million tonnes, by the end of XIth Plan (2012), Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said in a written reply to a question. The company would then raise the capacity to 16 million tonnes by the end of XII Plan (2017).

To a separate question, Patel said public sector fuel retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum lost Rs 26,363 crore during first half of current fiscal on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene at prices below cost.

The companies lost Rs 2,638 crore on petrol, Rs 9,919 crore on diesel, Rs 8,206 crore on PDS kerosene and Rs 5,608 crore on domestic LPG, he said.

The retailing firms would be issued bonds for an amount equal to 42.7 per cent of their under-recoveries and one-third of the revenue loss would be borne by upstream companies such as ONGC, he said.

To another question, Patel said the fuel retailers have planned 3,215 new petrol pumps in the country during 2007-08.