Country’s largest oil marketing company Indian Oil Corporation will invest Rs. 17,825 crore to implement Petrochemical and Lube Integration at its Gujarat Refinery.
IOC, the country’s second largest player in the petrochemicals segment, is expanding its petrochemical capacity by more than 70% from its present 3.2 million tonnes a year.
“The integration of Polypropylene and Lube Oil Base Stock (LOBS) units will enhance the petrochemical and specialty products integration index of Gujarat Refinery,” said Shrikant M Vaidya, Chairman, IOCL at the company’s 61st annual general meeting.
Petrochemical is a lucrative opportunity for energy companies in India as the per capita consumption still remains very low. With the segment expected to picking up pace, oil marketing companies are expanding in this segment.
IOCL, which is investing ₹26,233 crore this fiscal, plans to focus on entry into new petrochemical segments like polyester filament yarn, polyester staple fibre, polybutadiene rubber and ammonium thiosulphate along the COTC value-chain.
In the long run, however, IOCL also plans to develop fuel cells and indigenous Hydrogen storage solutions for promoting green mobility, said Vaidya.
“Our research and development centre is pursuing research in this area and is focused on making significant contribution in developing Hydrogen Economy infrastructure in the country,” he added.
Indian Oil is operating two Hydrogen-dispensing stations with on-board Hydrogen production (from the electrolysis of water) and compression facility.
“Extensive research is also going on to back-integrate our own products like petcoke and polymers for deployment in fuel cells,” said Vaidya adding that with refineries presenting a very attractive case for acting as Hydrogen production and supply centres, IOCL is looking forward to pioneering the deployment of fuel cell technology in the country.
The company is also working on carbon dioxide-to-lipids conversion pathways, further strengthening its position in advanced bio-fuels research.
“Our retail outlets of the future will be ‘energy pumps’ that offer a wide assortment of cleaner, greener and more efficient fuel options to millions of our customers,” added Vaidya.