BPCL to boost Bina refinery capacity by 30%

India’s second largest state-owned refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL), plans to expand its Bina oil refinery in Madhya Pradesh by 30% to 7.8 million tonnes a year, from the current 6 million tonnes, BPCL Chairman and Managing Director S. Varadarajan said.

The expansion of the refinery, which is operated by Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd. (BORL), a joint venture between BPCL and state-owned Oman Oil Co. (OOC), will be completed by 2018, he said. BPCL, which owns a 49% stake, will invest INR 3,500 crore (USD 551 million). OOC, which owns 26% stake, is not participating in the expansion, Varadarajan said. The remaining 25% of BORL is owned by financial institutions.

BPCL also operates a 12 million tonne-per-year refinery in Mumbai and a 9.5 million tonne-per-year refinery in Kochi. It also owns a majority stake in the 3 million tonne-per-year Numaligarh refinery in Assam.

He said BPCL is also expanding and upgrading its Kochi refinery to process high sulphur crudes by 2016. The Kochi refinery is being expanded to 15.5 million tonnes per year.