New Delhi, April 25 (Reuters): Saudi Aramco is considering proposals to buy stakes in local oil refining and petrochemical projects, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today.

India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, imports almost 80 per cent of its crude requirements, mostly from West Asia. In the first quarter, Saudi Arabia was India's biggest exporter of oil, sending about 889,000 barrel per day (bpd) to the country, or about 21 per cent of the total.

Earlier this month, Pradhan met Saudi Aramco chairman Khalid al-Falih and sought Saudi investment in a planned 1.2 million bpd refinery on the west coast, the expansion of the Bina refinery and a petrochemical plant at Dahej, he said today.

"All the three we have offered to Saudi. The two sides will decide on the proposals in a time bound manner," Pradhan said, meaning there are deadlines for reaching investment decisions.

Saudi Aramco did not respond to an email from Reuters seeking comments.

Three state refiners - Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum - plan to build the 1.2-million bpd refinery on the country's west coast at a cost of more than Rs 1 lakh crore ($15.02 billion) to meet the country's growing fuel demand.

Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd is expanding the capacity of the Bina refinery by 30 per cent to 156,000 bpd while OPAL, majority owned by ONGC Ltd, is building a petrochemical plant in Gujarat.