Reliance to double Jamnagar capacity

Reliance Industries has chalked out plans to double the capacity of its mega project, the Jamnagar refinery. The company will invest between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 150 and 200 billion) in doubling the capacity of the refinery from 30 million tonne per annum to 60 million tonne per annum and the expansion project is likely to be completed by August 2006.

Sources close to RIL said with the expansion, the Jamnagar refinery will in most likelihood, become the world's largest single location refinery.

"The company will invest between Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore as part of the expansion plan, which is likely to be completed in just over a year from now," a top official of the company said.

The refinery project itself earned a revenue of about Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) for the company in the past fiscal, of which Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) was in the form of exports.

"The company will shortly commence work on the expansion of the refinery. Adequate land has already been earmarked for the expansion project," the official said.

The refinery margins for 2004-05 were encouraging as end-product price increases were much higher than the rise in crude oil prices.

Reliance recorded a 100 per cent capacity utilisation at its Jamnagar Refinery. The refinery processed about 30 million tonnes of crude during the 2004-05 fiscal.

Exports of refining products during the past fiscal year were 10.2 million tonne, translating into revenues of around Rs 30,000 crore. In comparison, exports for 2003-04 stood at 7.5 million tonne.

Meanwhile, Reliance is also implementing its retail outlets project and has the necessary approvals for setting up 5,849 retail outlets in India.

Company officials said that the response from these retail outlets is encouraging as the throughput per outlet is higher than the industry norms.

"By the end of March 2006, Reliance will have significant presence in the retailing of transportation fuels," said the official.

Following the division of the Reliance empire, Mukesh Ambani has got control over the flagship Reliance Industries, which will implement the Jamnagar refinery expansion project.

Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani stated recently in Vadodara that there are no immediate plans to merge Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited, another refining unit and a Reliance group company, into RIL.