Larsen & Toubro’s Hydrocarbon Onshore division (L&T Onshore) has hit a landmark achievement with the feed-in of the world’s first LC-Max Residue Upgradation Facility (RUF) at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s (HPCL) Visakh Refinery in Andhra Pradesh. The facility boasts a capacity of 3.55 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA).
The unit has now officially begun processing vacuum residue from the refinery, producing high-value products. The milestone was celebrated in the presence of senior representatives from HPCL, the licensor CLG, and project management consultant EIL, marking a defining moment for India’s refining and energy sector.
Executed by L&T on an EPC turnkey basis, the RUF is the most complex process unit of HPCL’s Visakh Refinery Modernisation Project—a flagship initiative under the National Energy Self-Reliance Programme aimed at extracting maximum value from residue streams.
The advanced facility produces fuel that meets BS-VI emission standards and introduces several first-of-their-kind technologies in Indian refineries, including ebullating pumps, Grayloc flanges, Pressure Let-down Stations, and Pitch Solidification and Handling Units.
Commenting on the achievement, L&T’s Deputy Managing Director and President, Subramanian Sarma, said: "With the commissioning of the world’s first LC-Max Residue Upgradation Facility, delivered with innovation and precision, L&T has reaffirmed its position as a leader in executing complex, large-scale projects that set new benchmarks in safety, quality and technological advancement”.
The project faced formidable challenges, including execution during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and severe constructability constraints within a compact brownfield refinery in Vizag.
To overcome these hurdles, L&T leveraged advanced construction methods and maximized off-site fabrication. Over half of the structural and piping scope was modularized into 135 plug-and-play modules, some up to 35 metres long and weighing 100–700 tonnes, fabricated across L&T’s facilities in India.
The construction scale was massive, involving over 750 equipment items, including 230 over-dimensional consignments transported across Vizag, along with extensive piping and cabling. Over 50% of civil works, including all three substation buildings, were executed using precast construction—a first for any Indian refinery project.
The project also registered 58 million safe workhours, demonstrating L&T’s commitment to safety and quality. The commissioning of the LC-Max RUF underscores L&T’s engineering prowess and ability to deliver highly complex projects under the toughest conditions.
