- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S top oil company Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Friday (27) said it will invest nearly Rs 1 lakh crore (£9.8 billion) to raise its refining capacity by almost a third over the next four-five years since it saw the demand for fuel continuing to grow in near future.
Addressing the firm’s annual meeting of shareholders, IOC chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said the demand of petrol is back at the pre-Covid levels and that of diesel, the most used fuel in the country, should also return to normal levels by the time of Diwali.
“Forecasts by various agencies see Indian fuel demand climbing to 400-450 million tonnes by 2040 from the present 250 million tonnes. This offers enough legroom for all forms of energy to co-exist,” he said.
IOC is aggressively rolling out new projects to cater to the rising demand.
“These translate into refining capacity expansion of over 25 million metric tonnes per annum, including (subsidiary) CPCL, and an investment commitment of close to Rs 1 lakh crore over the next 4 to 5 years,” Vaidya said.
IOC operates 11 refineries that convert crude oil into valued fuels such as petrol and diesel. These have a combined capacity of 81.2 million tonnes.
The company plans to raise the capacity of its Koyali refinery in the western state of Gujarat to 18 million tonnes from the current 13.7 million tonnes while the same at Panipat refinery in the northern state of Haryana is planned to go up to 25 million tonnes from the current 15 million tonnes.
Expansion is also planned at Guwahati (Assam) and Barauni (Bihar) refineries while a new plant is being built at the subsidiary, Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd (CPCL).
These expansions will take IOC’s refining capacity to 106.7 million tonnes.
Vaidya also said IOC is focusing on optimally integrating current refining processes to yield more chemical products per barrel of oil.
“This will intensify petrochemical and lubricant integration leading to a diversified product portfolio and attain profit maximisation,” he said, adding, “In fact, integration projects, like the upcoming Styrene Monomer Project at Panipat or the Lube Integration Project at Gujarat Refinery will also reduce India’s import dependence and strengthen the promise of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
IOC is also focused on using green energy to power new projects and expansions.
“Indian Oil is charting its course as a future-ready global energy giant and we are working on a range of scalable alternative energy options to realise the vision,” Vaidya said adding CNG and LNG as fuel for automobiles, hydrogen-spiked CNG for long-haul buses, biofuels, hydrogen and e-mobility solutions are being explored.
The company has tied up with Israeli company Phinergy to manufacture Aluminium-Air batteries for EVs in India.
“Leading automobile companies have shown keen interest in the technology and prototype integration and field trials are expected to commence soon,” Vaidya said. “This collaboration has potential advantages for India, including a viable and affordable e-mobility solution by leveraging the abundant aluminium reserves in the country,” he added.
