Mittal pays first instalment of Rs 500 cr for Bhatinda refinery

New Delhi, July 25 (UNI) Mittal Investments (MI), the joint venture partner of HPCL's nine million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) Guru Gobind Singh Refinery project at Bhatinda in Punjab, today paid the first instalment of Rs 500 crore for its 49 per cent stake.

Steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal, Chairman of MI, handed over a Rs 500 crore cheque to HPCL Chairman and Managing Director Arun Balakrishnan in presence of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and other officials here.

Mr Balakrishnan handed over a share certificate to India-born billionaire Mr Mittal.

''Today we have paid Rs 500 crore as first installment for our 49 per cent stake in the Bhatinda refinery,'' Mr Mittal told reporters here.

He said this is a historical day for Punjab as this is the biggest project for the state.

The project is being financed in 1.5:1 debt-equity ratio.

The total equity investment by Mittal Investment and HPCL will be Rs 3,577.50 crore each.

''It is the single largest investment, about Rs 19,000 crore at any location in Punjab. The refinery will create a lot of jobs directly and indirectly in the state,'' Mr Deora said.

The minister added that there will be industrialisation and development of support industries.

Later, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal called on Mr Deora and conveyed that the state government will extend full support to the project.

The investment by MI is the first and the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) brought into the petroleum refining sector in collaboration with a PSU.

Mittal and HPCL hold 49 per cent stake each in the Rs 19,000 crore Bhatinda refinery and the remaining two per cent is with financial institutions.

Mittal Energy Investments Pvt Ltd (MEI) is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Mittal Investments (MI).

UNI