(Reuters) – India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp plans to expand its refining capacity to 45 million tons per year (tpy) by 2028 from the current 35.3 million tpy, its head of refining, Sanjay Khanna, said on Tuesday at an industry event.
As part of the plan, BPCL – the country’s second-biggest fuel retailer – will increase the capacity of its 15.5 million tpy Kochi refinery, situated in the southern state of Kerala, to 18 million tpy.
It will also boost the capacity of its 12 million tpy Mumbai refinery to 16 million tpy, Khanna said.
The state-run company additionally expects to expand its 7.8 million tpy Bina refinery in central India to 11.3 million tpy by May 2028, he added.
The refiner, which is always on the scout for cheaper oil grades to maximize its profit margins, is also keen to test low sulphur grades from South America including those from Argentina, Khanna said.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)
