NEW VENTURE: Managing Director of MRPL R. Rajamani (right) at a press conference in Mangalore on Saturday. Director (Finance) of MRPL L.K. Gupta is seen. — Photo: R. Eswarraj

MANGALORE: The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has permitted Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), a subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, to directly sell aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to airlines.

The sale is likely to start after September, according to R. Rajamani, Managing Director of MRPL.

He told presspersons here on Saturday that the MRPL had registered with the Airports Authority of India for marketing ATF.

Chief Controller of Explosives had given licence to the company to erect ATF refuellers. The company had ordered for three ATF refuellers that were expected to be delivered either in August or September.

The three refuelling units might be set up at Bangalore, Calicut and Panaji. But it had not been finalised yet, he said and added that more refuelling units would be built as talks with airline authorities progressed. Mr. Rajamani said that the company had tied up with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) for sharing its (HPCL's) infrastructure facilities for marketing MRPL's products. As a first step the company had started using the HPCL's facilities in Mangalore for direct sale of MRPL's products to customers. Mr. Rajamani said that the company was planning to open 15 petroleum retail outlets in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh by the end of this financial year.

Financial performance

He said that the company earned a net profit of Rs. 525 crore during 2006-07 as against Rs. 372 crore net profit earned in 2005-06. The total turnover was up by 15 per cent, from Rs. 28,243 crore in 2005-06 to Rs. 32,377 crore in 2006-07. The board of the company had recommended a dividend of eight per cent to its shareholders for 2006-07.

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