IOC's Paradip refinery to start output by Mar 2012
New Delhi   21-Oct-2010

IndianOil's Paradip refinery in Orissa will start commercial production by March 2012, director (refineries) BN Bankapur has said. He added the plant, which did not have any export potential, would be fully operational by November 2012. "Everything from Paradip will be for domestic consumption. It will not be exported," he said. It will have a refining capacity of 15 million tonne per year and the estimated project cost is around Rs 320 billion, Bankapur said. The first stage of the plant will be commissioned in Jan 2012. The refinery will have a complexity factor of 13, allowing it to process and refine very low quality of crude or crude with high sulphur content. The refinery will produce Euro-IV compliant fuels. Indian Oil will decide within the next three-four months whether to build a petrochemical plant near its Paradip refinery, Bankapur added.