New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) Public sector oil marketing giant BPCL has lined up a capex of Rs 1.7 lakh crore for expanding its existing refineries, and also plans to set up new integrated refining and petrochemical capacities within the next five to seven years to meet the rising demand in India’s growing economy, company Chairman G. Krishnakumar said on Friday.

India’s booming economy is driving a significant increase in energy demand. Petroleum product consumption is expected to rise steadily by 4-5 per cent annually for the foreseeable future. Similarly, the demand for major petrochemical products is also expected to rise by 7-8 per cent annually. This presents a strategic opportunity to expand refining capacity alongside the development of integrated petrochemical complexes, he explained.

“We aspire to become a dominant player in India’s petrochemical growth story. Towards this, in the Financial Year 2023-24, we announced two new petrochemical projects in Bina and Kochi with an aggregate capital outlay of Rs 54,000 crore. These projects leverage the inherent advantages of integrated refinery and petrochemical operations,” the BPCL Chairman said.

The Ethylene Cracker Project at Bina, conceived at a gross cost of Rs 49,000 crore, involves brownfield expansion of the Bina refinery capacity from 7.80 MMTPA to 11 MMTPA to primarily cater to the feed requirements of petrochemical plants. The project is on track as per the planned milestones with potential commissioning planned in 2028, he added.

Similar progress has been made in the Polypropylene Project at Kochi Refinery and the project is on track for commissioning in 2027. These projects will catapult our Petrochemical Intensity Index from 2.3 per cent to 8 per cent and expand our petrochemical capacity by 2.4 MMT, the Chairman said.

BPCL also plans to add 4,000 fuel retail outlets in India in five years, increasing the total number to 26,000, Krishnakumar added.

Aligned with the nation’s ambitious climate goals, BPCL has developed a comprehensive roadmap to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. To meet its net zero goal, it is investing Rs 1 lakh crore into generating renewable power, green hydrogen, compressed biogas, carbon capture utilisation and storage, to offset its carbon emissions. The company aims to build two gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2025 and 10 GW by 2035, the BPCL chairman said.