Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.,(MRPL), Karnataka’s only petroleum refinery, is geared to supply Bharat Stage VI grade fuel in Bengaluru and Mangaluru regions much ahead of the April 1, 2020 deadline.
In a media interaction here, MRPL Managing Director M. Venkatesh said the company has already started producing Stage VI grade petrol and diesel.
But to make it available to customers, the existing stock of Bharat Stage IV fuel has to be flushed out — from tanks inside the refinery to petroleum pipelines, and from tanks in the depot to tanks in retail outlets, the MD noted.
Director (Refinery) M. Vinay Kumar said Stage VI diesel production started from September 28, 2019, and the process of flushing out the Stage IV diesel from 26 tanks within the refinery had commenced. The Stage VI petrol production, in full capacity, will start from January 2020 and everything is ready for its production.
With all these, MRPL should be able to supply the upgraded fuel to retail customers by March 1 2020, Mr. Venkatesh said.
Mr. Venkatesh said besides the forced shutdown of Phase 2 and 3 during the summer following acute water shortage, MRPL also had to shut down Phase 3 for 23 days in August-September following sinking of pipe rack owing to very heavy rains. This came at a time when the production had reached an all-time high in July. Yet, with all precautionary measures, the company ensured that the damage to the pipe rack did not cause any mishap, Mr. Vinay Kumar said, adding production has again picked up. In all probability, the physical performance in the last two quarters should be excellent, he added. Meanwhile, work on its seawater desalination plant is progressing as per the plan even as MRPL has a plan B for the next summer to get desalinated water from a container-mounted plant.
It may get an additional 3 million gallons daily treated sewage from Mangaluru city shortly, Mr. Venkatesh said, adding the 70-MLD desalination plant will be fully functional from the 2021 summer.
Group General Manager (Refinery) Sanjay Varma was present.
