MRPL plans to open 257 retail outlets in Karnataka and Kerala
MANGALURU: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited Managing Director M Venkatesh revealed on Saturday that the company plans to open 257 retail outlets across Karnataka and Kerala in the next few years in order to expand its retail presence.
Addressing a press meet, he said of the 257, 190 will come up in Karnataka and the rest in North Kerala. In the next one year, 60 retail outlets will be opened in Karnataka. At present, MRPL has just seven retail outlets.
Further, he said MRPL is gearing up for the roll out of BS-VI fuels under the auto fuel policy. MRPL’s BS-VI project is being executed at a cost of Rs 1,810 crore and is expected to be commissioned in February 2020.
Venkatesh said they have made the first purchase of one million barrels of US-produced Thunder House crude oil and is set to be delivered in October. To a query, he said purchase of crude oil from US is viable. With regard to exploration, he said all opportunities are open, and the ONGC is actively pursuing it depending on the country’s geo-political situation.
Citing a report of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that indicates a clear growth for petroleum products in the country, the MD said greater push for electric vehicles will not affect the fourth phase expansion of the MRPL. However, he said it is difficult to set a timeline for the expansion as they do not know when the land acquisition will be completed for the purpose.
Despite global issues resulting in extremely volatile markets, the MRPL has achieved an excellent physical performance in 2018-19 with a gross refining margin (GRM) of 4.06$/bbl, the highest ever thought of 16.43 MMTPA with highest every production of LPG, polypropylene and HSD and turnover of Rs 72,283 crore and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 332 crore. During the last fiscal, MRPL contributed Rs 12,019 crore as state and Central taxes.
Vinay Kumar, Director (Refineries), Raviprasad, CFO, were present at the meet.M Venkatesh said a sea water desalination plant coming up at the MRPL premises at a cost of Rs 620 crore will be commissioned by third quarter of 2020-21. The plant unit with a capacity of 7 million gallons of permeate per day, will ensure that the permeate for use by the refinery is available during summer months and will allow MRPL to ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products even during times of water shortage. In view of problems faced during this year’s summer, the MRPL is attempting to hire containerised desalination units. It is also targeting an increase in use of treated municipal sewage from the present three million gallons per day. With this, it is hoping to minimise the consumption of fresh water, which is 11 MGD at present.