Haldia Petrochem seeks more land for upstream refiner

Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) is seeking "more land" from the West Bengal government for setting up an upstream refinery plant in order to reduce the imports of primary feedstock naphtha.

"We want to set up an upstream refinery plant here and we are getting ready for that. We seek more land for the project," the company's Executive Vice President and head of the plant Ashok Kumar Ghosh said during the East Midnapore district administrative meeting presided by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Ghosh said the company used to procure about 20 per cent of its naphtha requirement from the refinery here.

"The refinery (at Haldia) can supply up to 20 per cent of our requirement even if it (refinery) runs in full capacity. We are importing the rest of our naphtha requirement from Gulf countries. This is a huge penalty for our plant," he said.

Responding to Ghosh, state's Large Industries and Enterprises Secretary Rajiva Sinha said around 800 acres of land has already been identified and the state is in the process of identifying 700 acres more.

"A survey has already been started and a report is expected in two week's time," Sinha said.

--IANS

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