India's Punj Lloyd Awarded EPC Contract for Nagarjuna Oil's Cuddalore Refinery

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Leading Indian engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company Punj Lloyd Limited (BSE:532693) (Gurgaon, India) has been awarded an EPC contract for oil and gas company Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Limited's (NOCL) (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) Cuddalore Refinery.

According to the company's announcement on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the project involves the installation of the inside battery limit (ISBL) units and interconnection pipe racks at the refinery in Cuddalore, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Punj Lloyd will complete the project in the next 18 months.

The setting up of the ISBL units entails the installation of distillation units (both crude and vacuum), saturated gas, gasoline plants, and catalytic hydro desulfurization and isomerization facilities. The entire project will include sourcing materials for the construction process, all building work, civil work, structural work (including prefabrication), setting up of all equipment related to mechanical work, non-destructive evaluation services, and electrical and instrumentation services.

Punj Lloyd Director P.K. Gupta said in the announcement, "We are proud to win this contract, demonstrating our reputation and exercise in the execution of challenging projects. Cuddalore Refinery is a very significant and highly complex project. Once completed, the refinery will produce Euro IV auto fuels, in accordance with the latest emission norms and will meet the increasing energy demands of the country. This is our second refinery project in southern India this year, and we hope that it will further strengthen our footprint in the market."

On April 6, Punj Lloyd issued another statement to the BSE, announcing two separate contracts awarded to the company by south Indian refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (BSE:500109) (MRPL) (Mangalore, India), a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas pioneer Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (BSE:500312) (New Delhi).

Under the first contract, Punj Lloyd will construct a petro fluid catalytic cracking unit for the third phase of the expansion and modernization plan of MRPL's refinery, which currently boasts a capacity of 257,000 barrels per day. This order will be completed within the next 18 months. The second contract, also from MRPL, will cater to MRPL's offsite refining facilities.

According to sources, these two contracts fortified the Punj Lloyd Group's order book enough for it to climb to an estimated $6 billion on a consolidated basis.

Meanwhile, the Cuddalore Refinery being established by NOCL, a subsidiary of Indian plant nutrient manufacturer and supplier Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (BSE:500075) (Hyderabad, India), has an installed capacity of 6 million tonnes per year. When commissioned and fully operational, the facility will manufacture 870,000 tonnes per year of petrol, 2.4 million tonnes per year of diesel, 556,000 tonnes per year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 450,000 tonnes per year of kerosene and aviation turbine fuel, and 220,000 tonnes per year of naphtha.

Meanwhile, Punj Lloyd issued a statement on April 7 to the BSE announcing that it was awarded a contract worth $52 million from the Bihar government's Public Health and Engineering Department (Patna, Bihar) to design, construct and start up 850 solar-powered water treatment plants throughout the state. This is pegged to be India's largest such solar-based EPC contract and will help solve the problem of Bihar's groundwater contamination.

While Punj Lloyd offers integrated design and EPC services, as well as services for management of projects related to the infrastructure sector, NOCL is focusing all of its attention on the Cuddalore Refinery project.

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