Foreign companies are in talks to buy a stake of up to 24% in the Bina refinery in India’s Madhya Pradesh state which is jointly owned by Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and the Oman Oil Company, BPCL’s chairman told Reuters.

This is in an effort to boost the refinery’s capacity by about 30% from 120,00 b/d, said BPCL chairman S Varadarajan, an objective shared by the Omani party.

The expansion of the refinery, which has started to make money after quarters of losses, could cost $460 m and would be completed by 2018, Varadarajan said.

According to Trade Arabia Varadarajan also said that BPCL could buy Latin American crude for its 190,000 b/d Kochi refinery in southern India, but only once its capacity is raised to 310,000 b/d next year and its capabilities are enhanced to process cheaper and heavier grades.

As for outsider investors, he said that “If the talks do not materialise in a deal, we will go for a public issue next year.”

He declined to name the companies in the talks so far.