November 17, 2008: Larsen & Toubro has secured a major order valued over Rs. 700 crores order from HPCL – Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), a joint venture of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Mittal Energy Investments. The project order involves setting up two 44000 TPA capacity Hydrogen Generation Units (HGU) for HMEL’s grassroots refinery in Bathinda, Punjab. The plant will be designed for operation with ‘straight run naphtha’ and DHDT naphtha as feed stock. The 9 million tones per year refinery will generate products that meet EURO IV specifications.

The order for the HGU has been awarded to L&T on a Lump Sum Turnkey basis, affirming customer confidence in L&T’s integrated capabilities to execute critical sections of refineries. Denmark-based Haldor Topsoe has been selected by HMEL as the process licensor.

L&T’s scope of work includes residual process design, detailed engineering, procurement, supply, transportation, storage, fabrication, inspection, construction, installation, testing, mechanical completion, pre-commissioning and commissioning.

The order was bagged by the Chemical Plants Business Unit of L&T’s Engineering & Construction Division. Secured against competition from global EPC contractors, the HMEL order augments L&T’s long track record in the mid and downstream hydrocarbon sector. Over the years, L&T – India’s largest technology, engineering and construction company - has executed critical sections of several refineries in India, South East Asia and the Gulf on a complete Engineering-Procurement-Construction basis. Recently, L&T completed a lube base oil project in Malaysia. The refineries in India and abroad have conformed to exacting hydrocarbon quality requirements, while meeting stringent delivery schedules.

The HMEL refinery order is among the number of orders won by L&T recently in key growth sectors of the economy, including infrastructure – airports, ports and mass rapid transport systems for cities. In addition to the hydrocarbon sector – upstream and mid and downstream – L&T’s Engineering & Construction Division has engineered, manufactured and delivered world-class plant and equipment for power stations and cement and allied machinery projects.