Chennai Petro hires EIL for polypropelene project feasibility

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd has appointed Engineers India Ltd to do the feasibility study on the proposed Rs 500-600 crore polypropelene project and the equally big hydrocracker project for LOBs from naphtha. "The reports are expected in the next two to four weeks," S V Narasimhan, managing director, told Business Standard.

The company, which put off its big ticket until its debt-equity ratio is brought down to 1:1, has been struggling to do just that. The rising crude prices have not made things easy. "In the first quarter we saw the debt-equity ratio still hovering around 1.2/1.3: 1. We want to bring it down to 1:1 by the close of this financial year," Narasimhan added.

In the current year, the company is implementing the Rs 193 crore desalination project at Manali and investing another Rs 40 crore in setting up the pipeline to transport crude between Chennai Port and the refinery.

The Rs 100-150 crore expansion project to take the diesel hydro desulphurisation unit from its current capacity of 1.8 mtpa to 2.2 mtpa to meet the Euro-IV norms, will also be taken up at a later date.