Visakha Refinery's clean fuel project to be complete by '07

The Rs 2,000-crore clean fuel project in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's Visakha Refinery will be completed by March 2007.

"Ordering of equipment and other machinery has been completed and we will start the erection work very shortly. The entire project will be ready by March 2007," Visakha Refinery executive director A S Rao told Business Standard.

Initially, the project cost was estimated at Rs 1,600 crore but due to delays and hike in several equipment prices, the project outlay has been raised to Rs 2,000 crore, he added.

Once the project is complete, Visakha Refinery will produce Euro-4 standard products. Currently, the refinery produces Euro-2 and Euro-3 standard products. "Besides producing quality products, the clean fuel project will enable the refinery to raise its capacity to about 8.2 million tonnes from the existing 7.5 million tonnes," Rao said.

Last fiscal, Visakha Refinery processed about 7.8 million tonnes of crude oil but this fiscal it will be limited to about 7.5 million tonnes due to maintenance works.

"This fiscal, we had shutdown the refinery for nearly three months for major maintenance works following which our total crude processing will not cross 7.5 million tonnes this year. However, post maintenance work, the refinery is now working at 8.3 million tonnes capacity. So in spite of a three-month shutdown, we can process 7.5 million tonnes this year," he said.

HPCL has also given its in-principle approval for increasing the capacity of Visakha Refinery to 10 million tonnes. "The corporation will soon appoint a consultant to prepare the detailed project report and estimates," Rao said.