NEW DELHI�The Indian government has approved the expansion of Kochi Refineries Ltd.'s plant at Ambalamugal from 7.5 million tonnes/year to 13.5 million at a cost of 43.7 billion rupees.
Orginally known as Cochin Refineries Ltd., the KRL plant was built in the 1960s as a government joint venture with Philips Petroleum Co. It has been expanded several times.
The government is selling its interest in KRL to Bharat Petroleum Ltd., but as refinery operator, KRL will oversee the 3-year expansion.
Also due expansion is the Chennai Refineries Ltd. (CRL) at Madras, formerly known as Madras Refineries Ltd. Capacity will be taken from 6.5 million tonnes/year to 9.5 at a cost of 23.6 billion rupees.
The government is selling its interests in four "stand alone" refineries (without their own marketing networks) to oil majors.
Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) will take over the Chennai and Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. plants while Bharat will take over the Kochi and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. plants.
