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Indian Oil Corporation Ltd proposes to ramp up the petrochemical, fuel refining and biofuel manufacturing capacity of its Panipat Refinery.
The expansion is a part of revised targets to increase the refining capacity from 15 million tonne per annum to 25 mtpa by 2023-2024 for the refinery.
A company official said: “We are spending ₹3,292 crore to upgrade from producing BS IV grade fuel to BS VI grade fuel. Another ₹765 crore will be spent for setting up a 100-kilo-litre per day 2G ethanol plant that uses rice straw-based biowaste by April 2020.”
According to IndianOil, the company is going to set up a 128-KL per day 3G ethanol project that uses gas fermentation technology from Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) off gases (containing CO, H2 and CO2) in Panipat. This project is expected to cost ₹441 crore.
“Approvals are awaited for expanding petrochemical manufacturing capacity with an investment of ₹967 crore. We are also considering setting up projects for domestic manufacturing of catalysts with an investment of ₹217 crore,” the official added.
Petcoke production
Since it largely processes heavy crudes, the Panipat refinery also has substantive petcoke production through its 0.9 million tonne per year coker unit. The consumption of petcoke by the cement industry is on the rise after the Supreme Court order of December 2017 allowed its use as a feedstock. Petcoke consumption registered a growth of 9.3 per cent in the financial year 2017-2018, according to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
Fuel refiners across the country, however, are moving towards lowering petcoke production. “We are coming out with products to substitute petcoke. The objective is to minimise its production,” the official said.
(The reporter was in Panipat at the invitation of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd)
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