BPCL's ₹1 trn refinery project gets environmental clearance recommendation

The proposed 9 mtpa refinery and petrochemical complex near Ramayapatnam Port will come up on 5,200 acres and produce transportation fuels and petrochemicals

The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has finally recommended environmental and coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearances for the ₹1.03 trillion greenfield refinery and petrochemical complex being set up by Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

 

The EAC’s recommendation is generally accepted by the government and leads to the grant of clearances.

 

This will pave the way for the state-owned refiner to start construction work at the project site near Ramayapatnam port.

The 9 million tonne per annum (MTPA) project is being set up on 5,200 acres of land with a complex product slate that includes 5.4 million tonnes of transportation fuels like petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF). This is apart from the 3.2 million tonnes of petrochemicals. 

 

Apart from its mega production capacity and investment, the project assumes significance because of the planned dedicated zones for green hydrogen, renewables, and a large marine crude oil terminal linked to the Ramayapatnam port.

 

The Andhra Pradesh government plans to turn the state into a regional energy hub. For BPCL, commissioning the project would also mark a further broadening of its product basket in favour of high-margin petrochemicals from the current portfolio dominated by transportation fuels.

 

The refinery will produce petrol, diesel, ATF, naphtha, LPG, bitumen, fuel oil and propylene. The petrochemicals unit is set to produce polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), phenol and acetone, among other products.  

The public hearing for the project was conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board in December last year, and Engineers India Ltd (EIL), acting as the consultant for the project, informed the EAC during its meeting last month that no litigation is pending against the proposal.  

Of the total 5,200 acres of land required, BPCL will develop 1,563 acres of greenbelt inside the refinery and petrochemical complex which is 30 per cent of the total project area, according to the details shared by the company with the environment ministry.

 

BPCL has pegged the estimated project cost at ₹1,03,408 crore, and ₹3,022 as the capital cost of the Environment Management Plan (EMP).

 

The company also proposed allocating ₹54 crore towards corporate environment responsibility (CER) in different activities in surrounding villages.  

The project would provide total direct employment to 400 persons and 13,600 persons would be indirectly employed during the construction period. During the operation phase, 1,250 persons would have direct employment and 3,750 indirect employment.

The company has informed the ministry there are no national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves, tiger or elephant reserves, or wildlife corridors within 10 km of the proposed site.

 

However, there are a few reserve and protected forests within that range.  

The total fresh water requirement for the project stands at 225,648 cubic metres per day which will be met from a desalination plant.

 

The company plans to source 624,000 cubic metres per day of sea water for the desalination plant through two intake pipelines.

 

The project would also require 770 megawatt (Mw) power, of which 185 Mw will be met through the envisaged captive power plant while the remaining 585 Mw will be sourced from the grid.  

BPCL currently operates three refineries — at Mumbai, Kochi and Bina — with a combined capacity of 35.3 MT, along with 0.83 MT petrochemicals capacity. The company is currently executing the expansion of its Bina refinery by an additional 3.2 MTPA capacity. 

 

The Maharatna public sector undertaking (PSU) has the potential to expand capacity to 45 MTPA with the expansion of Mumbai and Kochi refineries, it said in an investor presentation, adding that the BPCL board has already approved land procurement and dislodgeable foliar residue (DFR) studies for the Andhra refinery and petrochemicals project. 

The company is currently working on a broad ₹1.7 trillion capex plan, including the committed capex, meaning capex already

approved by the board, of ₹1.54 trillion. 

 

This includes ₹75,000 crore earmarked for the refineries and petrochemicals business, ₹32,000 crore for the upstream segment and ₹20,000 crore for marketing initiatives. 

 

The ₹75,000 crore capex planned for the refineries and petrochemicals business includes ₹6,000 crore being spent on land and DFR studies for the Andhra project. The company is already spending ₹50,000 crore to set up an ethylene cracker and downstream petrochemical plants at the Bina refinery. 

 

It is also simultaneously spending ₹5,000 crore for the Kochi refinery to set up a polypropylene project, and ₹14,000 crore at the Mumbai refinery to set up a petro resid fluidised catalytic cracking (PRFCC) unit. 

• The blueprint

 

Complex to be built on 5,200 acres near Ramayapatnam Port

The project will include zones for green hydrogen and renewables

It is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs 

BPCL sees potential to raise refining capacity to 45 mt from 35 mt currently