Hinduja Group keen on Kakinada refinery sans ONGC

[May 12-18, 2008]

Hinduja group plans to go ahead and set up a Rs 25,600 crore refinery at Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, even if its indecisive project partner, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, opts out.

"We have given in writing to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister that we are keen to set up the project, with or without ONGC," Hinduja Group Chairman G.P. Hinduja told PTI.

ONGC had put a slew of conditions, including Andhra Pradesh government giving 950 acres of land free of cost, sales tax exemption and fiscal concessions equivalent to a special economic zone, for setting up the 15 million tonne refinery-cum-petrochemical project at Kakinada.

The concessions would cost the state government about Rs 16,000 crore. Even if ONGC were to join the project, the London-based Hinduja group is keen to take a majority stake, he said. However, Hinduja was optimistic about the economic feasibility of the project and said the group has also informed the state government of the source of crude oil for the refinery.

After the exit of Subir Raha, who had drawn a blueprint to catapult ONGC to become second largest refinery in the country, ONGC has fettered away the downstream expansion plans and the new management has taken a dim view of the Kakinada project. It also wants the stated to give free power and water to the project, provide road and rail connectivity, develop sewage and refinery effluent disposal system and give communications connectivity to enhance the 10.27 per cent return on capital currently.

Source — PTI