Indian Oil To Invest Rs 2 Lakh Crore In 5-7 Years To Maintain Leadership Position
The investment plan is aimed at almost doubling Indian Oil’s refining capacity to 150 mtpa and expanding its fuel retail network.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. will invest Rs 2 lakh crore in the next 5-7 years to expand its refining and petrochemical capacities—a move that will help it maintain its leadership position in the country, Chairman Sanjiv Singh said on Tuesday.
The plan is to almost double Indian Oil’s oil refining capacity to 150 million tonne per annum, expand fuel and gas retailing networks, jack up petrochemical production and produce more crude oil and gas.
Indian Oil wants "to evolve into a future-ready corporate that provides comprehensive energy solutions to diverse user groups in an exciting phase of energy transition and technology disruptions," Singh said in the firm's annual report for 2018-19.
The state-run refiner, which processes 80.7 million tonnes of oil every year, aims to raise its refining capacity to 150 mtpa via greenfield and brownfield expansions. At the same time, it aims to raise petrochemical production capacity to 13 mtpa from 3.5 mtpa at present.
The oil marketing company is expanding its naphtha cracking capacity in Panipat and plans to set up new chemical projects in Gujarat, Paradip and Panipat.
The firm is also looking to rapidly expand its natural gas retail business by investing Rs 10,000 crore over the next eight years. Indian Oil, which has city gas licences in 40 cities, sold 3.96 million tonnes of natural gas in 2018-19. It now wants to “triple current market share in gas business" and expand its presence to 60 cities.
To expand its upstream exploration and production business, Indian Oil will invest in oil-rich Middle-East and Central Asian countries and even acquire some assets, the annual report said.
Its stakes in oil and gas fields in 10 countries, including Russia, United Arab Emirates, United States and Venezuela, currently generate 4.39 million tonnes; the plan now is to increase this production to 7 mtpa by 2023-24 and 11 mtpa by 2030.
For the fuel retail business, Indian Oil is pivoting to rural areas to drive expansion. It will automate and modernise petrol pumps as well as set up electric vehicles charging stations. "Indian Oil is aggressively leveraging its R&D expertise to move into horizon technologies like 2G and 3G ethanol, biofuels, coal gasification, H-CNG, hydrogen fuel cells, battery technologies, etc," Chairman Singh said in the annual report.
Domestic expansion plans aside, Indian Oil also plans to increase its overseas presence to 8 percent of total turnover with additional regional hubs in South Africa and Nigeria and agents/distributors in 20 countries to scout for new business.
Indian Oil To Invest Rs 492 Crore In Gujarat In 2019-20
Indian Oil will invest Rs 492 crore in Gujarat in 2019-20 to augment capacity and expand its fuel retailing network.
A major chunk of this investment is earmarked for increasing capacity of Indian Oil’s LPG import terminal at Kandla port and adding storage facilities at various other terminals, SS Lamba, executive director at Indian Oil, said in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
"We will increase the Kandla LPG terminal capacity from the present 0.6 million tonne to 2.5 mtpa. We have to expand our capacity in view of the rising demand for LPG. We will also be investing for additional storage facilities for ethanol and other products at various terminals in the state," said Lamba.
Indian Oil also plans to commission 200 new petrol pumps in Gujarat by the end of this financial year, said Lamba. These will be in addition to the 1,350 petrol pumps already operational in the state. Fifty new CNG stations will also be set up, said Lamba.