Indian Oil signs MoU with Gujarat govt for setting up various projects

New Delhi: The Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijaybhai Rupani and Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday presided over an MoU signing ceremony for 'Investment Promotion' between the government of Gujarat and Indian Oil for setting up a Petrochemical & Lube Integration (LuPech) project and Acrylics / Oxo Alcohol Project along with other infrastructure projects at its Gujarat Refinery at Vadodara.

The LuPech project will produce import substitutes like Lube Oil Base Stock (LOBS) and Polypropylene. The Acrylics/Oxo Alcohol Project at Dumad and Gujarat Refinery will manufacture value-added Butyl Acrylate, a key ingredient for paints, coatings, adhesives, textile chemicals, plasticizer industry, and other similar products.

These projects will strengthen the corporation's readiness for venturing into petrochemical projects like PVC, Styrene, Acrylonitrile, Poly-Methyl Methacrylate and Ethylene Oxide in future. The Petrochemicals & Specialty products (Gr-II/III LOBS) integration index based on additional crude oil added under this project is estimated to be 20.7 percent.

An MoU was also signed for infrastructure facilities at Dumad for Koyali-Ahmednagar-Solapur Pipeline (KAhSPL) and Tank Truck Loading facility for Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) – a feed-stock for detergent industries. The other infrastructure projects envisaged are New Flare System at Gujarat Refinery and a Hydrogen dispensing facility for Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV). Indian Oil's Gujarat Refinery will be implementing India's first Hydrogen Dispensing Facility as a clean fuel initiative. This facility aims to fuel Hydrogen buses plying between Vadodara and Kevadia /Sabarmati Ashram.

During his address, Chief Minister Rupani mentioned that Gujarat is a leading state in the field of Oil and Petrochemicals. He said that "As a result of the transparent policies, acceleration of 'Ease of Doing Business' and favourable environment for industries, Gujarat, in spite of the COVID pandemic has for the fourth year in a row, maintained its number one position as the highest recipient of FDI in the country."

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While Pradhan said, "Gujarat has become the first choice of investors as in its roots is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision that implements new plans for the holistic development of the state". The Minister also committed that these projects would be completed on schedule and inaugurated at the hands of the Prime Minister.

Giving further details during the MoU function, Indian Oil's Chairman SM Vaidya said, "Today Gujarat is charting a new path of prosperity. To power that journey, Indian Oil's Gujarat Refinery is now poised to grow to 18 MMTPA capacity. New units for the production of Polypropylene, Butyl Acrylate and Lube Oil Base stocks will also be added to the Refinery's portfolio".

These projects will enable large-scale direct and indirect employment opportunity during the peak construction period and later for the operation of these facilities. During the construction stage, around 125 million person-hours of employment will be generated. The total investment outlook for these projects in different execution stages is approximately Rs 24,000 crore.

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