BPCL Eyes Beyond Rs 1.7 Lakh Cr Capex for New Refineries and Petchem Units
BPCL, a major player in the public sector oil marketing industry, has announced a capital expenditure of Rs 1.7 lakh crore. This investment will be used to enhance its current refineries and establish new integrated refining and petrochemical facilities over the next five to seven years to cater to the increasing demand in India’s expanding economy, according to Chairman G. Krishnakumar.
India's rapidly growing economy is leading to a notable rise in energy demand. Petroleum product consumption is projected to grow steadily by 4-5 percent each year for the foreseeable future. Likewise, the demand for key petrochemical products is anticipated to increase by 7-8 percent annually. This creates a strategic opportunity to both expand refining capacity and develop integrated petrochemical complexes, he explained.
“We aspire to become a dominant player in India’s petrochemical growth story. Towards this, in the Financial Year 2023-24, we announced two new petrochemical projects in Bina and Kochi with an aggregate capital outlay of Rs 54,000 crore. These projects leverage the inherent advantages of integrated refinery and petrochemical operations”, the BPCL Chairman said.
The Ethylene Cracker Project at Bina, conceived at a gross cost of Rs 49,000 crore, involves brownfield expansion of the Bina refinery capacity from 7.80 MMTPA to 11 MMTPA to primarily cater to the feed requirements of petrochemical plants. The project is on track as per the planned milestones with potential commissioning planned in 2028, he added.
Similar progress has been made in the Polypropylene Project at Kochi Refinery and the project is on track for commissioning in 2027. These projects will catapult our Petrochemical Intensity Index from 2.3 per cent to 8 per cent and expand our petrochemical capacity by 2.4 MMT, the Chairman said. BPCL also plans to add 4,000 fuel retail outlets in India in five years, increasing the total number to 26,000, Krishnakumar added.
In line with the nation's ambitious climate objectives, BPCL has created a detailed plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. To reach this target, the company is investing Rs 1 lakh crore in renewable energy generation, green hydrogen, compressed biogas, carbon capture, utilization, and storage to mitigate its carbon footprint. BPCL aims to develop two gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2025 and expand this to 10 gigawatts by 2035, according to the company chairman.
