HPCL earns profit on the back of govt bail-out package
13 Nov 2010
State-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has, thanks to the government bail-out package, come out with a net profit of Rs.2,089.61 crore for the July-September quarter, as against a loss of Rs136.68 crore in the same quarter last year.
The finance ministry has given a Rs13,000 crore bail-out package for state-owned petroleum marketing companies, following under recoveries due to subsidies on diesel, kerosene and LPG. HPCL's share for the April-September period was Rs2,832.17 crore.
Subir Roy Choudhury, chairman and managing director, HPCL, told the media in Mumbai today that the company would lose about Rs.13,600 crores in the current fiscal because of subsidised fuel sales. HPCL loses Rs2.62 on every litre of diesel that is sold, Rs15.71 on every litre of kerosene and Rs.201.53 on every cylinder of LGP.
The company's gross refining margins have, however, gone up from $1.8 a barrel to $2.66 in the July-September quarter.
Referring to its 6.5 million-tonne refinery in Mumbai, Roychoudhury said the company was facing space constraints that prevented it from going in for an expansion.
The Maharashtra government has offered it 1,800 acres of land in coastal Konkan for a new 18 million-tonne refinery costing about Rs.30,000 crore. The company has sought an additional 1,000 acres of land for the new refinery.
