Steel magnate Lakshmi N Mittal is considering adopting stakes in two more Indian refineries including Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd’s (BPCL) Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s (HPCL) refinery in Vishakhapatnam.

According to the industry sources close to the deal said Mr. Mittal is making discussions to get a 20 per cent stake in BPCL’s Rs 9,100 crore, Bina refinery that is expected to be commissioned by 2010-11.

The sources added that he is also talking to HPCL for a stake in its proposed green-field nine million tonne refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

A HPCL representative said that the company (HPCL) has been in talks with France’s state-run gas company GAIL (India) and Oil India Ltd for a possible four-way affiliation in an approximated Rs 25,000-30,000-crore project.

An Oil India spokesperson told a refinery that would make 180, 000 barrels on a daily basis would be established.

“But a study will be taken to decide the capacity of the refinery and petrochemical plant,” he alleged, adding the whole project would cost an estimated $6-7.3 billion.

A senior GAIL official also confirmed the talks with Mittal, Total, and Oil India for the refinery. “We are interested in the petrochemical project, we are already into this business in India,” he said.

“Total was already talking to HPCL for a stake in the state-run firm’s planned doubling of capacity of the existing refinery at Vizag to 15 million tonnes. HPCL it seems has abandoned the Vizag expansion and is now planning the new refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in the country’s first Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR),” the industry sources added.