India Gives Green Signal to Kochi Refinery expansion project

Description: India’s federal body the Ministry of Environment & Forests has given approval for the Rs. 142.25bn ($2.5bn) Integrated Refinery Expansion Project which was proposed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The move is being overwhelmingly welcomed by various stake holders viewing its long term benefits.

The news could give a new boost to the Indian and Asian chemical industry as according to the latest Asian chemical news India’s federal body Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) has given green signal for the Rs 142.25bn($2.5bn) Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP) that was proposed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The facility is to be established and implemented at the Kochi Refinery. The news has created a sense of joy in the Asian and Indian chemical industry as India is one of the major producers as well as the consumer of petroleum products in the world and there was an acute need to initiate a facility with the means of which the growing demand of petroleum products could be met.

According to the reports from various authoritative sources the Kochi refinery that is going to be initiated has a refining capacity of 9.5mtpa, which manufactures auto-fuels and various other petroleum products that meet Euro-III/IV regulations. Meanwhile, all the stakeholders have overwhelmingly welcomed the move and expressed their willingness to let such incidence take place.

With this move the company BPCL intends to increase the refining capacity of the Kochi Refinery to 15.5mtpa from the present 9.5mtpa which is certainly an applaud able and it will help India and Asia materialize their expectation in practice. The company has also added that it is looking forward for more such initiatives and is willing to partner with various stakeholders to get it done for the welfare of the industry. The company has reiterated that the Indian Govt. has been very instrumental in shaping the future petrochemical industry and it will definitely be an important move to take on.

The company is also willing to modernize and upgrade the infrastructure of the refinery to produce value added products from low value refinery residues. The company has said there is an acute need of modernized infrastructure that could produce value added petroleum products that are of high quality. India is certainly doing something great and this move will certainly help Indian petroleum industry reach its highest peak.

The company has said that the IREP is an attempt to meet India's growing energy needs as well as to make auto-fuels more environmentally-friendly. And it is of the opinion that it will certainly add more to our efforts. The project which is aimed to be completed by December 2015 is the outcome of an MOU signed between the Indian state of Kerala and BPCL during the Emerging Kerala Investors Meet.

The IREP, which is expected to be completed by December 2015, is the outcome of an MOU signed between the Indian state of Kerala and BPCL during the Emerging Kerala Investors Meet. The new refinery in the Kochi that is all set to be started will also have a propylene-based petrochemical complex, which will be brought on stream during the same period as IREP.

India has been one of the major producer as well as consumer of petrochemical products and has been relying much on Russia and Gulf-countries to meet their petrochemical needs. There was a need where the basic requirements could be met in-house and according to various experts this refinery will certainly add in the efforts of India to be independent for petroleum products and other value added products related to petrochemicals. The move is certainly help India achieve its targets as far as need of petrochemical needs are concerned and we believe that this facility will produce auto-fuels and petrochemical products that could  only be consumed by the country but also enable them do export.

However, it will only be the time that will tell us what benefit it brings in and how India materialize these ideas into practice. Though challenges are many still various stakeholders feel that such move and initiatives will help India move far ahead in the industry. The facility is also willing to hire professionals that are equipped with latest and cutting-edge technologies in the field of fuel and petrochemical.