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Indian Oil to spend Rs 22,000 crore for expansion of Gujarat refinery
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country’s largest fuel retailer and the largest refiner in the country, plans to expand its Gujarat refinery to 18 million tonne per annum (mmtpa) from 13.7 mmtpa currently at the cost of Rs 22,210 crore, the company said in an application to the environment ministry.
“IOCL is now considering expansion of the refinery, with an objective to increase the processing capacity from current 13.7 mmtpa to 18.0 mmtpa. The expansion project also aims at substitution of existing smaller capacity atmospheric unit and vacuum units with a large atmospheric vacuum unit (AVU) to enhance the efficiency of operation,” the company said as part of its application.
According to the company, Engineers India Limited (EIL) had in 2013 prepared a configuration study and prepared a feasibility report for capacity expansion of Gujarat refinery to 18 mmtpa. However, in light of the Auto Fuel Policy 2025, the company updated the study carried out in 2013 with additional facilities required for meeting 100 per cent BS-VI auto fuel production.
The expansion will include revamp of existing hydrogen generation unit for production of syngas and hydrogen, a new n-butanol processing unit and a revamp of liner alkyl benzamine (LAB) unit.
The expanded 18-mmtpa refinery located in Koyali, Vadodara, is expected to process crude grades from Kuwait, Basrah light (Iraq), Mangla in Rajasthan and oil produced from north and south of Gujarat, while the feasibility study of the expansion project has been carried out for processing of additional 4.3 mmtpa Basrah light crude.
The refinery plans to spend close to Rs 2 lakh crore in the next five to seven years across its operations and has targeted to expand its refining capacity to 150 mmtpa per annum by 2030 from 69.2 mmtpa currently as well as increase its petrochemical production capacity to 13 mmtpa, according to the company’s annual report.
IOC accounts for 32 per cent of the country’s 250 mmtpa refining capacity.
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