New Delhi: State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is planning to invest Rs 2 lakh crores in the next five-seven years to expand its refining and petrochemical capacities in order to maintain leadership position, Chairman Sanjiv Singh said. The fuel retailer and refiner is aiming to double its oil refining capacity to 150 million tonnes per annum, expand fuel and LPG retailing network, amp up petrochemical production capacity and produce more crude oil and gas.
The investment plan is aimed at evolving IOC into "a future-ready corporate that provides comprehensive energy solutions to diverse user groups in an exciting phase of energy transition and technology disruptions," the Chairman said in the latest annual report. The public sector company is India's largest oil refiner with a total refining capacity of 80.7 million tonnes per annum.
IOC is planning to raise its petrochemical production capacity to 13 million tonnes from the current 3.15 million tonnes. It is currently expanding Panipat naphtha cracking capacity and plans to set up new chemical projects in Gujarat, Paradip and Panipat.
The oil PSU is also looking to invest Rs 10,000 crore over the next eight years to fund the rapid expansion of its natural gas retail business. IOC, which has city gas license to retail gas in 40 cities, sold 3.96 million tonnes of natural gas in 2018-19. It wants to "triple current market share in gas business" and expand its city gas distribution network to 60 geographical areas from current 40, IOC said.
"Besides the focus on refinery expansions, new technologies for clean fuels and enhanced outputs, and refinery-petrochemicals integration, Indian Oil is aggressively leveraging its R&D expertise to move into horizon technologies like 2G and 3G ethanol, bio-fuels, coal gasification, H-CNG, hydrogen fuel cells, battery technologies etc," Singh said. The oil PSU is also planning to scale up its presence in the upstream oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) sector by investing in oil-rich countries in the Middle East and Central Asia and acquiring producing assets.
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