Indian Oil Vadodara Refinery expansion targeted for completion by FY27-end

Vadodara: Indian Oil Corporation’s Vadodara refinery is yet to fully utilise its expanded crude-processing capacity of 18 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), nearly five years after the expansion began.

The refinery currently operates between its earlier 13.7 mtpa capacity and the expanded level, as several downstream units for converting crude into fuels, lube base stocks and petrochemicals are still being commissioned. These are expected to be completed by the end of FY27.

Biplob Biswas, Executive Director and Refinery Head at Indian Oil, said the refinery can technically process 18 mtpa of crude, but will achieve the full capacity once the secondary processing facilities are commissioned.

“We will reach 18 mtpa once the secondary processing is completed by the end of this fiscal,” Biswas said on Wednesday.

The expansion is part of Indian Oil’s ₹17,825-crore Petrochemicals and Lube Integration Project (LuPech). The brownfield project includes revamps within existing operating units. Two major revamps were completed last year, while two new greenfield units have been commissioned this year. The remaining projects, including the propylene unit, are expected to be taken up shortly.

Indian Oil is also adding a 5-lakh-tonne-a-year polypropylene unit, estimated to cost around ₹1,000 crore, which will use propylene generated from soft gases.

The addition comes as India continues to import significant quantities of polypropylene despite having substantial installed production capacity. DeshGujarat