Indian Oil’s Gujarat refinery in Vadodara is yet to fully utilise its expanded 18 mn tonne-a-year crude-processing capacity, five years after work began on the brownfield expansion. The downstream units required to convert crude into finished fuels, lube base stocks and petrochemicals are expected to be commissioned by the end of FY27.

The refinery is currently processing between its earlier 13.7 mn tonne-a-year capacity and the expanded level, according to Biplob Biswas, executive director and refinery head. Although the crude-processing unit can handle 18 mn tonnes a year, full utilisation depends on the completion of secondary processing facilities.

The expansion is part of Indian Oil’s Petrochemicals and Lube Integration Project, which has an investment of Rs. 178.25 bn. The project is designed to increase the refinery’s capacity from 13.7 mn tonnes a year to 18 mn tonnes while integrating refining operations with lube oil base stocks and petrochemicals. Two major revamps were commissioned last year, while the first two greenfield units, including a vacuum distillation unit and a lube oil base stocks unit, were commissioned this year.

The remaining facilities will be started in phases, with the propylene unit scheduled to be the final major unit commissioned by the end of FY27. A polypropylene unit with annual capacity of 500,000 t is estimated to cost Rs. 10 bn and will use propylene generated from soft gases, a by-product of Indian Oil’s INDMAX technology. The process can raise propylene recovery from the 8 to 10 per cent achieved by conventional fluid catalytic cracking units to as much as 18 per cent.

Indian Oil plans to work with downstream manufacturers in Gujarat to identify suitable products and grades. The company said domestic polypropylene demand has growth potential, as per-capita plastic consumption remains about one-third of the global average. Around 70 per cent of the refinery’s crude is imported, mainly from Russia and West Asia, while the balance comes from domestic fields in Gujarat. Commissioned in 1965 at 2 mn tonnes a year, the refinery reached 13.7 mn tonnes by 2001 and is now being expanded to 18 mn tonnes.