HPL to shortly place orders for expansion

Kolkata, Nov 28: Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) would shortly place orders for expansion of its existing plant.

The HPL board would take a formal decision in this respect soon, state's principal secretary commerce and industry department Sabyasachi Sen told reporters here today.

Mr Sen was speaking on the sidelines of Bengal Chamber of Commerce organised seminar on "Steel in Auto Components and Construction".

Earlier, it was reported that HPL plans to invest Rs 800 crore by March 2008 for revamping its existing plant and increasing capacity by about 28 per cent.

Besides capacity building, HPL is also evaluating the possibility to switch over to a coal-fired power plant from the existing naphtha-based unit to reduce the cost of energy by around Rs 140-160 crore per annum.

The company board has recently decided on a detailed feasibility study, for another major expansion, including a second plant.

HPL has already started working internally on the study, but would later hire an external consultant for the finalisation.

UNI