JULY 20239TOP STORYPOWER FINANCE CORP LENDS RS 9,187 CR TO HPCL RAJASTHAN REFINERYE20 GASOLINE OUTLETS WILL BE PRESENT THROUGHOUT INDIA BY 2025: HARDEEP SINGH PURIPower Finance Corporation (PFC) announced that HPCL Rajasthan Refinery had received financing of Rs. 9,187 crore. According to a business release, this is the first project for which PFC has offered financial support to the refinery and petrochemical industry. PFC said that in addition to the infrastructure sector, it is expanding its support for the development of nations."PFC, a Maharatna company and India's leading NBFC in the power sector, has extended its financial assistance of Rs 9,187 crore to HPCL Rajasthan Refinery for its 9 MMTPA refinery-cum-petrochemical complex located at Barmer, Rajasthan," the statement read. At a total cost of Rs 72,937 cr, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery (HRRL) is building a brand-new refinery and petrochemical complex in Rajasthan's Barmer district.On July 4, 2023, HRRL signed a loan deal for Rs 48,625 crore via a consortium arrangement, with PFC contributing Rs 9,187 crore. HRRL is a Joint Venture (JV) between the Rajasthani government and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL). The Rajasthan government owns the remaining 26 percent of the JV, with HPCL holding the remaining 76 percent.The project calls for the construction of an environmentally friendly refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, a pipeline for the transportation of both imported and Rajasthani crude, a pipeline to transport water to the refinery site, a captive power plant, storage facilities for crude and product, a township, and other ancillary facilities and utilities.Clean fuels including BS-VI grade Motor Spirit (MS or Petrol) and BS-VI grade High-Speed Diesel (HSD or Diesel) as well as petrochemical products like polypropylene, butadiene, LLDPE, HDPE, benzene, and toluene will be produced as part of the project. The project would meet the country's rising need for petroleum and petrochemical goods, especially in India's Western, Northern, and Central regions. India's energy minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who expressed confidence in the quicker implementation of such fuel stations, the entire nation will have specialised fuel stations selling E20 petrol. E20 gasoline is a mixture of 20 percent ethanol and petrol.The first E20 outlet opened on February 8 of this year, well in advance of the planned opening in April. They currently number 600 and will cover the entire nation by 2025, Puri was cited by PTI as saying during the annual general meeting of the industry lobby IMC Chamber. He added that the ministry will later this month announce the creation of a worldwide biofuel alliance.The percentage of ethanol in petrol increased from 1.53 percent in 2013­14 to above 11.5 percent as of March 2023. From 38 crore litres in 2013-14 to 433.6 crore litres in 2021-22, ethanol-blend petrol has grown in volume. In a similar vein, he said that the number of petrol stations offering biofuels has tripled from over 29,890 in 2016­17 to over 67,640.The government has already surpassed its 20 percent ethanol blend target ahead of schedule (11.5 percent), which it hopes to reach by 2025. In fact, the administration moved the 20 percent blending goal up from 2030 to 2025 by five years. The 10 percent ethanol blend objective for petrol was met in June 2022, significantly earlier than expected.The country's import basket has become more diverse, growing from 27 nations in 2006­07 to 39 in 2023 as a result of the country's increased sourcing of crude from Russia and other non­Gulf markets. The third greatest consumer of energy, third largest importer of LNG, third largest refiner, and fourth largest market for automobiles in the globe, according to him, demonstrate a clear correlation between growth and energy consumption.
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