Technical Issues Overshadow the Restart of HMEL Bhatinda Refinery in early December

Bhatinda (Punjab, India): On December 1st, 2022, HMEL started operations in its Naphtha cracker unit at the Bhatinda refinery, also known as Guru Govind Singh refinery, located in Punjab. Additionally, the production site faced some technical issues which halted the operations and brought them to a premature end. However, as per several trusted sources, the halt has been termed as minor, which is unlikely to impact the overall production rates. Refinery is expected to begin operations soon.

HMEL boasts 500 KTPA of Polypropylene (PP), a dedicated line of 400 KTPA of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and 800 KTPA of swing capacity to produce HDPE or LLDPE. Thus, in principle, HMEL has a total HDPE Capacity of 1200 KTPA.

Earlier in the year, GAIL India Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), has laid a dedicated pipeline to provide Natural gas to HMEL’s refinery in Bhatinda. As per estimates, the total pipeline cost has been assessed at INR 142 Crores. and the pipeline would be part of 500 km Dadri-Bawana-Nangal Pipeline (DBNPL) which has been set up to fulfill the growing energy needs of UP and Punjab. The company has reported that the Natural gas tap-off is taken from GAIL receiving terminal at NFL, Bhatinda and the pipeline will cover a distance of 44.26 km and avail Natural gas at Guru Govind Singh refinery.

HMEL is a prime specimen of Public Private Partnership (PPP) where Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Mittal Energy Limited and Singaporean N Lakshmi Mittal Company came together in 2007 to form HMEL refinery in Bhatinda, Punjab.