Mumbai : State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), which had a string of fire accidents this year at all its facilities, including the recent blasts at its refinery in Mumbai, is planning to shift the LPG facility out of the city to the nearby Rasayani, as part of its efforts to strengthen safety measures.
BPCL officials said the incident in August, in which 50 people were reportedly injured, was attributed to material related failure. “We incurred a total loss Rs 970 crore and we are in the process of settling the insurance claims,” said D Rajkumar, chairman and managing director, BPCL.
Rajkumar said, as part of their long term and safety plans, the LPG facility in the Mumbai refinery complex will be shifted to Rasayani which is near Uran.
“LPG facility will be completely shifted in three months. We have got the environmental clearance. Within 24 months, the entire LPG facility will be out from Mumbai refinery. This will help cut down truck movement near the refinery by as much as 43 per cent,” said Rajkumar.
The second-largest state-run refiner and oil marketer is also planning similar options for its other refineries in Kochi, and its joint venture refineries at Numaligarh in Assam and Bina in Madhya Pradesh as well, a top company official said.
BPCL’s director for refineries, R Ramachandran, said the Rasayani facility over the years will attract Rs 36,000-38,000 crore of investments over the next few years as the company is also planning a petchem facility there.
“The investment plans are still at the drawing board level, except for the LPG facility which is already underway. We already have taken 250 acres and the entire plan will involve taking in an additional 500 acres. And thankfully land acquisition will not be an issue as the land was earlier an industrial plot,” said Ramachandran.
He said, “Our board approval is in place. Details are to be decided. The world has changed, the world is looking at India. Many players in petrochemicals, apart from Kuwait, Japan is also interested.
As regards the growing pressure for sanctions against Iran, Rajkumar said they received nearly 3.8 million tonnes out of the 4.2 million tonnes contracted with Iran this year. The balance if needed is only about 0.5 million tonnes which is expected by September end. Henceforth BPCL will not be trading with Iran.
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