IOC to invest Rs 6,800 cr on capacity expansion at Gujarat plant

State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) today said it will be investing Rs 6,800 crore on capacity expansion and improving fuel quality at its Gujarat refinery unit.

The state-run refiner in the country will invest Rs 5,000 crore to increase its overall capacity to 18 million metric tonnes from the present 13.7 million metric tonnes, executive director S K Dhar Gupta said.

Besides, it will invest Rs 1,800 crore to make the end product compliant with the low-sulphur Bharat Stage (BS-IV and BS-V) norms, he said.

The new capacity addition at its plant at Koyali village in the outskirts of the city will also be compliant with the latest fuel norms, he said.

"The Gujarat refinery is gearing up to meet the quality improvement programme in line with the Auto Fuel Vision and Policy-2025, for supply of BS-IV fuels across India from April 1, 2017," he said.

Gupta added the BS-IV norms involve upgradation of diesel quality by reducing the sulphur content in the diesel to 50 part per million (PPM) from the current 350 PPM.

This is aimed at reducing air pollution in the country, he said, adding that the norms first came into force on April 1, 2010 in 13 cities.

The Rs 1,800-crore fuel output quality enhancement project will be completed by April 2017 while the Rs 5,000 crore fuel enhancement project will be completed by 2020, Gupta said.

He further said the shift to cleaner fuels will also help the company's profitability as the operating costs will go down and hence, lead to an uptick in the gross refining margins (GRMs).