Indian Oil’s Panipat refinery expansion to be completed in Dec 2025

MUMBAI (ICIS)–State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has pushed back completion of its Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex expansion by more than a year to 2025, with the project cost raised by 10% to rupees (Rs) 362.3bn ($4.4bn).

The refinery’s capacity is being expanded to 25m tonnes/year from the current 15m tonnes/year and build a 450,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) plant among other downstream units at the site.

IOC now expects to complete the expansion project by December 2025, against its earlier target of September 2024, the company said in a disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 1 December.

The company did not provide any reasons for the extension in the completion deadline.

In July, IOC selected engineering and construction firm McDermott for the expansion project, which includes phase II expansion of the naphtha cracker at the site, along with downstream PP and new ethylene derivative units.

McDermott is also executing IOC’s 120,000 tonnes/year maleic anhydride project at the complex. Other chemicals including butanediol (BDO) used to produce engineering-grade plastic and biodegradable fibres, and tetra hydro furan (THF) used in adhesives and vinyl film will also be produced in Panipat.

IOC is also building a 60,000 tonnes/year polybutadiene rubber (PBR) plant and a 387,000 tonne/year styrene monomer unit at the site.

($1 = Rs83.33)