Good response to Bhatinda petchem tenders
Hindustan Petroleum's JV with Laksmi Mittal, HPCL-Mittal Energy (HMEL) must be pleased with the response to its proposed EPC tenders to set up two petrochemical units at its Bhatinda refinery.
Nine companies attended the pre-qualification meeting held at the Delhi office of project consultant Engineers India on August 25: Samsung Group, Technip KTI, Tecnimont, Larsen & Toubro, Petrofac, Tata Projects, Fluor Corporation, Cinda with CTI, and Hyundai. "Hardly any questions were asked," says a source.
"HMEL's pre-qualification documents give a lot of information about the (proposed polypropylene and high density polyethylene) units." Typically, attendees at such meetings ask for more time to send in qualification documents as most companies give just three or four weeks. By contrast, HMEL wants these documents sent in by September 26, a full two months after it sent out draft qualification documents on July 28.
At the meeting, EIL and HMEL indicated that tenders will be issued to shortlisted companies by March or April 2018 and the projects should be commissioned 24 months from award. HMEL's move to set up a petrochemical complex is part of a growing trend in the country, with a similar project planned by IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum in Maharashtra.
On August 11, reports said Chemical and Petrochemical Manufacturing Association executive member S. Mitra estimated demand for synthetic polymers would jump from 30m t/y to 40m t/y by 2020, taking India's petrochemical market to nearly $70bn.
