IOC to Pump in Rs. 70,000-Crore by 2030 to Expand Refining Capacity

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is reportedly planning to invest Rs. 70,000-crore to raise its refining capacity by about a quarter by 2030. IOC is looking to expand its refining capacity to 116.55-mn tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2030 from the current 80.7-mtpa.

India’s current refining capacity of 247.6-mtpa exceeds consumption but with demand growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 3.5-4 per cent, it will need to add more capacity to meet the rising fuel needs. While the Energy Information Agency of US projects India’s demand to reach 434-mt by 2040 from 194-mt currently, IEA puts the number between 450-mt and 492-mt.

The Oil Ministry estimates fuel demand to rise to 335-mt by 2030 and has planned to raise the country’s refining capacity to 415-mtpa by 2020 from the current 247.6-mtpa. In 2040, the refining capacity is projected to rise to 439-mtpa.

Expansion plans

The investment planned by IOC also includes upgradation of major units at existing refineries to help produce cleaner Euro-VI or BS-VI grade petrol and diesel by April 2020. Besides, IOC plans to raise capacity of its Panipat refinery in Haryana to 25-mtpa from current 15-mtpa while Koyali refinery in Gujarat would be expanded to 18-mtpa from 13.7-mtpa.

The recently-commissioned 15-mtpa Paradip refinery in Odisha will see a capacity addition of 5-mt while 3-mt will be added at IOC’s Barauni refinery in Bihar. A 1.2-mtpa capacity addition is planned for Mathura refinery to take its capacity to 9.2-mtpa. IOC is also looking at adding a 9-mtpa refinery at its subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL).

Other state refiners too have planned capacity addition to meet rising demand. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. (BPCL) is looking to ramp up capacity to 56-mtpa, from 36.5-mtpa currently, by adding 5-mt to its Kochi unit and ramping up capacity of Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh by 9-mt to 15-mtpa. Also, Numaligarh capacity will go up to 9-mtpa from 3-mtpa now. Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. (HPCL) also plans to expand its Mumbai refinery to 9.5-mtpa from 7.5-mtpa and that of Vizag unit to 15-mtpa from 8.3-mtpa now. It is also setting up a new 9-mtpa unit at Barmer in Rajasthan. IOC, BPCL and HPCL are together looking at putting up a new 60-mtpa refinery on the west coast in Maharashtra.