Government-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) on Tuesday confirmed that it is in talks with some foreign as well as local companies to build a refinery-cum-petrochemical facility at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

HPCL Chairman Subir Roy Choudhury said that the corporation had written to 13-14 global energy giants for participation and that gas transporter GAIL (India) Ltd had expressed interest in the project.

Speaking about the project, Choudhury said, "GAIL has expressed interest in taking stake in petrochemical plant, while for refinery we have written to 13-14 global majors for participation..."

The list of energy giants that have been approached by HPCL for participation in the new project includes BP of the UK, Total SA of France, Oil India and Indian Oil Corporation.

The planned facility will be built nearly 70 kilometers away from the corporation's existing Vizag refinery in the southern state of India.

The announcement was made as part of the company's Q4 earnings report. The company reported a jump of 66 per cent in net profit for the January to March quarter, after it got compensated by the government for selling fuels below market price.

Net profit in the quarter rose to Rs 7,679.31 crore from Rs 4,630.99 crore in the same period last year, company director (finance) B Mukherjee said. HPCL received a lumpsum compensation for selling diesel, cooking gas and kerosene at government-capped rates during the October-March 2012 period.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) posted a 66 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 7,679 crore, for quarter ended March, from Rs 4,631 crore in the same period last year.

Net sales jumped 17 per cent from Rs 52,394 crore in the Q4 of 2011-12 to Rs 61,238 crore in the Q4 of 2012-13, while net profit climbed from Rs 4,630.99 crore to Rs 7,679.31 crore.