MUMBAI: Pakistan’s move to ease trade restrictions against India may translate into a big opportunity for Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Hindu Business Line has reported. HPCL’s Bhatinda refinery, scheduled to be commissioned soon, will benefit from an enlarged market resulting from the opening up of the Indo-Pak border.
The project, planned with an outlay of Indian Rs190 billion, will benefit from Pakistan’s easing trade restrictions on Indian goods. If the HPCL is willing to invest in a 100 kilometre pipeline linking Bhatinda to Lahore, Pakistan may turn out to be a bonus market for the planned project, Hindu Business Line said.
No plans have been finalised yet, but the oil company has made it known recently that it may be open to supplying products to Pakistan from its new refinery. According to reports, the business model will be very attractive to HPCL, as revenues will outstrip the relatively low investment sunk into the pipeline.
The HPCL is primed to use Bhatinda as a critical gateway to the Pakistani market ever since Pakistan has expressed its keenness in facilitating trade with India. Reports say that any increase in capacity or the expansion of the refinery’s units will not be expensive, and the company can easily expand into the Pakistani market.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2012.
COMMENTS (11)
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@rahul: Opening a second front by attacking Lahore was a brilliant move on the part of India to counter Pakistani attack in Kashmir. It was Pakistan who started that war. Once war starts it is not limited to a certain part of border. Allied forces would have lost to Hitler if they had followed your good idea
@AliRizvi:
Not passing any comment, in any way. Just a lighthearted comment. To carry further what you have said "Tali 2 haat se bajti hai" - "chutki ek haat se bhi hoti hai".
@Umer: If you knife someone in the back, don't complain that they can't "handle it" when they shoot you back in retaliation.
@saurabh: lol...
Who doesn't...when few army men infiltrated the "Disputed Territory" your only choice was to attack Lahore crossing International Borders. You couldn't handle that. The same thing happened in 47 when raja called indian army.
Does nobody in Pakistan know about Operation Gibralter at all?
@kdp: lol ur funny. If you so concerned about china why did you attack lahore in 1965?
Anyways brother forget about it. Its good to accept our own mistakes. You accept yours we will accept ours.
@AliRizvi: India is more concerned about your friend China who attacked in 1962 and taken a vast territory and now they claim whole Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Now you tell me if Indians need atomic weapons or not.territory
We have written our own deathnote. Soon everything here would be either Made in China or Made in India and we will be completely dependant on expensive imported products.
@alam sidduqui: Yes sir, lets start a "Trade war", nor a "War".
@alam sidduqui: If they knew how to trade then why did they made Nuclear Weapons first? Just because our media is very apologetic to India doesn't mean educated Pakistanis should forget how arrogantly they were talking to us after achieving Nuclear Weapons. If they knew how to trade they would not have attacked Lahore in 1965. Anyways "Tali 2 hath sey bajti hae"
Pakistan has always responded with the same attitude and I think both countries should stop hating each other. It has to start from the bigger country as its natural.
We know how to fight and they know how to trade. Not fair!!!