#FuelingIndiasGrowth: BPCL resumed work on 2,118 projects worth Rs 50,300 crore

• Out of Rs 50,300 crore, Rs 9,597 crore is to be spend within the current fiscal and so far BPCL has spent Rs 1,650 crore on these projects

• BPCL plans to complete 10 projects worth Rs 18,766 crore (both capex and operational expenditure) in this financial year and the two biggest projects are in Kochi

New Delhi: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has resumed work on a total of 2,118 projects that involve a capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 50,300 crore, the oil marketing company which is set to be privatised said on Wednesday. The projects are to be implemented over a period of three years. Out of Rs 50,300 crore, Rs 9,597 crore is to be spend within the current fiscal. BPCL has spent Rs 1,650 crore on these projects so far, the company said.

In July, BPCL had said that it had reduced its capex plan of Rs 12,500 crore announced earlier this year in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown and would now spend only Rs 8,000 crore. However, the current figure (Rs 9,597 crore) has been revised again and is higher than the previous target by Rs 1,600 crore. The government has asked PSUs to aggressively spend their targeted capex within the fiscal year in order to alleviate the financial stress in the economy. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has held several review meetings in this regard.

BPCL projects' timelines

BPCL plans to complete 10 projects worth Rs 18,766 crore (both capex and operational expenditure) in this financial year and the two biggest projects are in Kochi. The two projects are: propylene derivative petrochemical project (PDPP) in Kochi and motor spirit block project (MSBP) at the Kochi Refinery, which is its largest refinery with 15 million tonne capacity. While the former costs Rs 5,246 crore, the latter is worth Rs 3,289 crore.

A 2G bio-ethanol refinery at Bargarh in Odisha is another large project being executed by BPCL at a cost of Rs 1,607 crore. Another project is a Rs 1,524-crore multi-product cross-country petroleum product pipeline from Bina to Panki in Kanpur. Then there is the Rs 1,507-crore Kochi-Salem LPG pipeline project where the work has resumed. 

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Out of the 10 projects, two are in Mumbai — the Rs 640-crore expansion of the lube oil base stock (LOBS) and a Rs 449-crore re-routing of Mumbai-Manmad pipeline and Rs 283-crore petroleum terminal at Haveli in Pune and a Rs 249-core new petroleum depot at Bokaro in Jharkhand. "We have turned the COVID-19 driven crisis into an opportunity and are working on mission mode now to generate employment and revive growth," said BPCL.

The backdrop

The projects have been resumed since April 20, after several lockdown restrictions were eased by the government. The two projects in Mumbai had, however, been stalled till after April 20 as the international flight services were in suspension. However, after the resumption of flight services, highly-skilled foreign manpower has been able to reach the city and hence, work has been resumed, BPCL had said earlier this month. 

The 2,118 projects include refinery projects, petrochemicals, bio refineries, marketing infrastructure, pipelines, CGD among others, said BPCL. The OMC has spent Rs 380 crore on labour wages alone so far.

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