MRPL capacity utilisation hit by water shortage

NEW DELHI: Fresh water shortage has forced Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals (MRPL) to lower capacity utilisation by a quarter at its 15-million tonne (mt) refinery. MRPL will operate at just 8 mt of capacity from Thursday, said managing director M Venkatesh. A 3-mt unit was shut last month for routine maintenance and now, another 4 mt is being closed due to water shortage, he said.

The shutdown is likely to continue until mid-June while “MRPL will try and meet fuel supply commitment to the extent possible,” said Venkatesh, without giving details on the expected production or sales revenue shortfall. MRPL supplies to all oil marketing companies.

“Considering the acute shortage of fresh water in the river Nethravathi in absence of summer showers, MRPL refinery complex process units are under partial shutdown as a force majeure,” MRPL said in a stock exchange filing.


MRPL had faced similar shortage of fresh water in 2012 and 2016, forcing it to shut down units. The refinery needs 13 million gallons per day (mgd) to maintain operations, for which it depends largely on the Nethravathi.

The falling water level in summer compels authorities to ration supply and industries are the first to get affected. Factories in the region have begun scheduling their routine maintenance in summer.

MRPL has also been trying to maximise use of sewage water, Venkatesh said. It is building a desalination plant — scheduled to be ready by September 2020 — to use sea water.