IndianOil plans to acquire land for Haldia refinery upgradatio
New Delhi   10-Aug-2008
Nursing major investment plans for Haldia refinery; Indian Oil is planning acquisition of 100 acres of unused land adjacent to the existing refinery premises. The land identified is owned by the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) and is currently in the possession of the closed facility of Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation Ltd (HFCL). According to sources, the company is in the process of making a fresh submission before the ministries of Shipping and Chemical and Fertiliser in this regard shortly. The land, if available, may be used in setting up a Rs 5,000-crore paraxylene plant as downstream integration and would also create opportunities for further expansion of refining capacity. IndianOil has already secured 82 acres of additional land – which was previously in the possession of HFCL – from KoPT to set up a Rs 350-crore delayed coker unit as part of its efforts to enhance the refining capacity, produce more value added products, enhance the distillate yield of the refinery and increase the complexity of the refinery so as to refine higher quantities of cheaper heavy high sulphur crude. Set up in 1975 on 500 acres with a capacity to refine 2.5 million tonnes crude oil to produce fuel oil products and lubricant base, the refinery today processes over 6 million tonnes of crude at over 65 per cent yield. Originally designed to process lighter crude of upto 35 API (American Petroleum Institute) gravity, the refinery today process heavier crude of 30-31 degree API gravity. <b>Capacity enhancement </b> The refining capacity would enhance to 7.5 million tonnes from 6 million tonnes once the ongoing Rs 2,900-crore capacity augmentation and quality upgradation project is fully commissioned in December 2009. This coupled with the proposed delayed coker unit – currently awaiting board approval – would enhance the refining yield to over 75 per cent (65 per cent). <b>Land crunch </b> “Paucity of land is today the biggest stumbling block for future investments in Haldia refinery. We have exhausted all options of further expansion within the existing refinery premises, so much so that we reduced our crude storage capacity to make room for the ongoing investment. “We are currently exploring opportunities to some more land adjacent to existing premises to pave way for future investments, Mr Hirak Dutta, General Manager (Technical), told Business Line.