(LiveMint)
To strengthen safety measures and minimise accidents at its Mumbai refinery, state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has decided to move its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility outside Mumbai, said company officials. “Certain facilities (LPG), which are not essentially required in a refinery premises, we would look at moving them to alternative locations which makes commercial sense and is good from the safety perspective.” said R Ramachandran, director, refineries at BPCL.
Last month, BPCL’s Mumbai refinery witnessed a fire accident, leading to a loss of about Rs 97 crore for the company. D. Rajkumar, chairman and managing director of BPCL, said the relocation of the LPG facility for the Mumbai refinery will be completed in the next two years. “The relocation, will help cut down truck movement near the Mumbai refinery by 43%,” said Rajkumar.
The LPG facility is planned to be moved to Rasayani, Maharashtra, where BPCL intends to build a $3 billion petrochemical unit. BPCL this March bought 500 acres of land from a fertiliser unit of Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd which will allow BPCL to build a petrochemical complex that will use feedstock from its Mumbai refinery. The site is about 60 km from the refinery.
