Gokul Refoils forays into Haldia

Gujarat-based Gokul Refoils & Solvent Limited, the Rs 2,650 crore edible oil refinery company is making a foray in the eastern region with a 1,000 metric tonne per day capacity in Haldia at an investment of Rs 140 crore.

The Haldia plant will be GRSL’s fourth facility in the country.The company at present has three facilities in Gujarat near Kandla port with a total refining capacity of 2,000 metric ton per day. Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata today, Kanubhai J Thakkar, managing director, GRSL said, “This plant is part of our overall expansion plans. We did not have any presence in the eastern region. So we thought of setting up one near the port, which will help reduce our freight charges and logistics bill.”

"The plant in Haldia is located at a strategic position. We have direct connectivity through a pipeline to the port. It is closer to Malaysia and Indonesia, some of the major exporting countries for edible crude," said Thakkar. GRSL got about 22 acres on lease from the state government for the plant.

The plant was inagurated last week by Union finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee. It will start commercial production from early next month. The company was planning to make its foray in the southern markets, Thakkar said. “We are looking at increasing our refining capacity to 8-10,000 metruic tons per day within the next five years,” he added. The company is looking at a Rs 3,500 crore turnover this fiscal with the new refinery facility coming onstream.

The company also plans to foray in the power business. GRSL has signed an MoU with the Gujarat government. A JV will be formed with the Gujarat government holding 26 percent and GRSL having 74 per cent. "We plan to set up a 135 Mw lignite-based power plant. We have got the land and the plant will go onstream in two years' time," said Thakkar.