Hpcl Earmarks Rs 10,500cr Investment

The corporation is setting up a 6 million-tonne refinery in a joint venture with Saudi Aramco Oil Company in Punjab. It has already submitted a preliminary feasibility report to the government. The refinery will essentially cater to the petroleum demands in the north west sector.

HPCL is also setting up another 6 million-tonne west coast refinery at Deoghar, Maharashtra, with Oman Oil Company (OOC). However, the Oman company plans to concentrate on the central refinery with BPCL.

Addressing press persons here on Tuesday, H L Zutshi, chairman and managing director of HPCL said: ``The corporation has not received any information from OOC to withdraw from the project.'' For HPCL, the interest in the west coast refinery continues, he added.

 

The corporation is in the process of finalising details for setting up a 500 mw thermal power plant in Visakhapatanam. The plant would make use of heavy fuel oil that would become available after the Visakh refinery expansion.

For LPG infrastructure facilities, it has entered into an agreement with Exxon of the US and Total SA of France. HPCL also plans to develop import facilities for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and has signed an MoU with Total. The LNG facility is expected to come up somewhere in the south.

During 1995-96, the corporation recorded the highest capital expenditure of Rs 523 crore as against Rs 491 crore in the previous year.

HPCL posted a 31.42 per cent increase in its net profit from Rs 391.29 crore to Rs 514.24 crore for the year ended March 1996. It has recommended a final dividend of 20 per cent in addition to an interim dividend of 15 per cent, thereby taking the total dividend to 35 per cent.

The sales volume was up by 12.4 per cent and stood at 14.15 million tonnes in 1995-96. Sales turnover stood at Rs 14,862 crore.

For the first four-month period (April-July 1996), the corporation's Mumbai refinery processed 1.59 million tonnes of crude against 1.54 million tonnes in the corresponding period, while the Visakh refinery processed 1.35 million tonnes compared with 1.18 million tonnes in the previous year.

Sales grew 9 per cent as against industry growth of 7.9 per cent.