New Delhi: HPCL Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL) will make a fresh investment of Rs 2,600 crore at the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Bathinda to set up polypropylene downstream industries and new fine chemical projects, the company said in a statement issued on Tuesday. The announcement was made at a joint press conference addressed by Prabh Das, managing director and chief executive officer of HMEL, and Sanjeev Arora, Punjab’s minister for industry and commerce.
“Due to the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery, Punjab has emerged as a major hub for polypropylene manufacturing in India,” Das said, adding that nearly 14 percent of the country’s total polypropylene demand is met by the Bathinda refinery.
He said the refinery has been operating continuously without interruption for several years and that HMEL, in addition to producing fuels such as petrol, diesel and gas, is now planning to expand industrial activity through fine chemical projects in Bathinda.
Arora said the refinery, which was established in 2011, is spread over around 2,000 acres and generates an annual business turnover of about Rs 90,000 crore. He added that the Bathinda refinery contributes nearly Rs 2,100 crore annually to the Punjab government’s tax revenues and accounts for about 5–6 percent of the country’s total petrol and diesel production.
According to Arora, the proposed Rs 2,600-crore investment will generate new employment opportunities for the state’s youth. He said the refinery currently provides direct and indirect employment to nearly 10,000 people. To further promote plastic manufacturing, the Punjab government is considering developing a dedicated plastic industrial park near Ludhiana, he said.
The minister assured HMEL of time-bound clearances for the proposed expansion and said the company is also planning to set up petrol pumps across Punjab. He said the licensing process for fuel retail outlets has been simplified, with licences now being issued within two days. In the future, multi-fuel outlets offering petrol, diesel, CNG and electric vehicle charging facilities will be developed, requiring land parcels ranging from 0.5 to 2 acres.
Arora said the investment will not be limited to Bathinda alone and will spur the growth of refinery-linked industries across Punjab. He also said the state government is working to expand renewable energy deployment to enhance industrial competitiveness.
HMEL is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd, Singapore, part of the Lakshmi N Mittal Group, with each partner holding 49 percent equity and the remaining 2 percent held by Indian financial institutions.
The company owns and operates the integrated refinery-petrochemical complex at Bathinda, comprising an 11.3 million tonnes per annum crude oil refinery, a 1.2 MMTPA multi-feed cracker, 1.2 MMTPA polyethylene capacity and 1.0 MMTPA polypropylene capacity. It also operates a 1,017-km crude oil pipeline from Gujarat to Punjab along with associated facilities.
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