Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) is looking forward to investing Rs 17,000 crore to augment the capacity of its Mumbai and Visakhapatnam refinery projects, by 2018.

The company envisages expanding the capacity of its Mumbai refinery from its existing 6.5 million tonne to 10 million tonne in two and half years, from the date it gets environment clearance. It plans to increase the capacity of its Visakhapatnam refinery from 8.33 million tonne to 15 million tonne, and it will be commissioned within three years from the date it obtains clearance.

Of the proposed investment plan, HPCL will invest Rs 2,000 crore in the Mumbai refinery, while Rs 15,000 crore will be invested in its Visakhapatnam refinery. 

The company has already applied for environment clearance.

Besides, HPCL is also setting up a new refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Barmer in Rajasthan, which entails a capacity of nine million tpa.