Vizag petrochem project on hold: viability to be reevaluated after 6 months

21-Sep-09

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL)’s planned refinery and petrochemical complex in Vishakhapatnam is on hold due to weak market conditions amid the global economic downturn; and will be re-evaluated only after six months. HPCL, France's Total, Mittal Investments, GAIL (India) Ltd and Oil India Ltd signed a deal in 2007 to explore building the Vizag project, but final investments have not been agreed and construction has not started. The project was initially valued at US$8.3-9.4 bln and included an export-oriented refinery with an annual capacity of 280,000-300,000 bpd and a petrochemical plant with a capacity of at least 1 million tpa.