Hindustan Petroleum investing Rs614 crore in two sugar mills for ethanol production

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) is going ahead with Rs614 crore investment plans for manufacturing ethanol at the two sugar mills it had bought in Bihar.

The two plants will have a combined capacity to produce 60 kilolitres of ethanol per day. The ethanol will be used for blending with petrol as per government guidelines.

The government has proposed the blending of ethanol with petrol in a bid to reduce the to country's dependence on imported oil. Currently, 5 per cent ethanol is doped in petrol and the percentage is expected to double in the coming years.

Reports quoting company sources said the HPCL board had already  approved the investment proposal and was waiting for the general elections to get over for implementing the projects.

HPCL had last year taken the two closed sugar mills from the Bihar government

HPCL has two major refineries producing a variety of petroleum fuels and specialties - one in Mumbai (5.5 MMTPA capacity) and the other in Vishakapatnam, (with a capacity of 7.5 MMTPA).

HPCL holds an equity stake of 16.95 per cent in the 9 MMTPA Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited and is in the process of setting up a refinery in Punjab in the joint sector.

HPCL also owns and operates the largest Lube Refinery in the country producing lube base oils of international standards. With a capacity of 335 TMT, this refinery accounts for over 40 per cent of the India's total lube base oil production.