'HPL closure not affecting IOC much'

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Friday said the closure of West Bengal's flagship industrial project Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. (HPL), where it supplied around 50,000 tonnes of naphtha monthly, will have a minimal effect on it.

"We used to supply HPL around 50,000 MT of naphtha, the main feedstock of the plant. But its closure had minimal impact on us. It is not that our entire naphtha was only for HPL," IOC executive director Y.K. Gupta told reporters here.

"As HPL is not taking anymore naphtha, but whatever we are producing is being consumed by various others sources. We are now sending around 10,000 to 12,000 MT of naphtha per month to our refinery in Panipat and other sources," Gupta said.

Operations at HPL were suspended since July 7, following a technical snag in the naphtha cracker unit.

Gupta said IOC's Rs.34,500 crore Paradip refinery will be commissioned March-April this year.

"The Paradip refinery, based on petrochemical, is also coming up and we are hoping that it will be commissioned by March-April this year," he said.

"The country's fuel consumption grows annually by 5 percent and almost 83 percent of fuel demand is met from imports. Last year, we spent $160 billion on fuel imports. So, it is imperative that we conserve it," said Gupta.