Slow pace of capacity addition casts shadow over India's refinery targets

In short, India's energy security and the <Aatmanirbharta> may both be on the line unless state refiners step on the gas

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India should add 200 million tonnes (MT) of refining capacity, around 80 per cent of existing capacity. Industry officials said this additional capacity — which amounts to 4 million barrels a day — must come up in the next 10 years if it has to make an impact on consumption, and enable refiners to recover their investments.

But state-run refiners led by IOC, which together account for 65 per cent of the domestic business, are proving slow to the draw. IOC’s Paradip was the last greenfield project inaugurated in 2016 by Modi, commissioned after