(LiveMint)
State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) may build its second liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cavern in Mangalore, Karnataka, said two company officials, requesting anonymity. HPCL is planning to build an underground LPG storage facility and had been in talks with France’s national oil company, Total SA, to partner it. Total SA is also HPCL’s partner in the first LPG cavern in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
“We are working on the plan for the LPG cavern. There is a possibility that we may be building it alone,” said a senior official from HPCL. The cavern will be the second such facility in India and will cost ₹1,000 crore. HPCL already has an LPG import facility in Mangalore. The second HPCL official said that looking at the growing demand for LPG, a new cavern is a commercially viable option. The facility at Mangalore will be exclusively used by HPCL and may have a capacity of over 60,000 tonne. “Our board has approved the project. We now need to begin the process of obtaining technical and environmental clearances.”