IndianOil Corp set to invest Rs 32,946 crore in Panipat refinery

IndianOil Corporation (IOC) will invest Rs 32,946 crore to increase capacity of its Panipat refinery to 25 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa). IOC told the BSE the board has approved of this expansion from the present 15 mmtpa, along with installation of Polypropylene Unit and Catalytic Dewaxing Unit.

The project could be commissioned by September 2024.

“The capacity expansion will improve operational flexibility of the refinery to meet the domestic energy demand, and also enhance the petrochemicals intensity. The increased production of petrochemicals and value-added specialty products will not only improve margins but also de-risk the conventional fuel business,” said IOCL.

The Panipat Refinery is IOC’s seventh, and technically the most advanced public sector refinery complex of India.

It meets the demand for petroleum products in Haryana and the entire North-Western region, including Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi.

This is the second large investment declared by IOC in 2021. On January 29, the board had cleared the setting up of a 9-mmtpa grassroot (greenfield or new) refinery at Cauvery Basin (Nagapattinam), Tamil Nadu. This will be set up by IOC’s subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corporation to meet the demand for petroleum products in the south.

The capex estimated for setting it up is Rs 29,361 crore.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is also batting for the expansion of IOC’s Haldia Refinery.

In a statement issued on Friday, Pradhan said he wrote to Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadanand Gowda, and Minister of State for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (Independent Charge) and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Mansukh Mandaviya, seeking their personal intervention in leasing out 175 acre for undertaking expansion work.

“In recent times when the refinery was required to construct new units for the Bharat Stage VI standards, this could only be partially accomplished by dismantling existing storage tanks. Some critical units remain to be constructed, for which additional land is required,” Pradhan said.