The world's biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, has agreed to develop a "mega refinery" in Maharashtra with three Indian oil marketing companies, namely the Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL).
This will be one of the biggest foreign investments in the country's hydrocarbon sector.
The refinery, located about 215 miles south of Mumbai, will cost $44 billion to build and is capable of processing around 1.2 million barrels of crude oil a day, CNN Money, reported, citing, Aramco, as saying, in a statement.
Saudi Aramco will supply at least 50 percent of the crude to be processed at the planned refinery.
"Large as this project may be, it does not by itself satisfy our desire to invest in India ... We see India as a priority for investments and for our crude supplies," Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said, reported local media reports.
Saudi Aramco and the Indian consortium will each own 50% of the project.
According to the report, the deal comes barely less than 24 hours after Saudi Aramco inked an agreement with French oil company Total (TOT) to build a "giant" petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia.
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