BPCL plans a major expansion, to diversify into petrochemical

Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) is planning Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore investment over the next five years for setting up a petrochemical plant and expansion of the Kochi refinery.

The company is looking at diversification into petrochemicals by building a niche speciality chemical project at a cost of Rs 5,000-6,000 crore at Kochi, and plans to rope in a multinational partner for the project.

The company is expanding Kochi refinery from 9.5 million million tonne per year to 15 million tons a year.

The petrochemical project would use feedstock from the expanded refinery and the projects are likely to be completed in the next five years.

The refinery expansion will be funded by BPCL, for petrochemical plant and the company is looking for a foreign partner preferably a licensor of the speciality chemical the company intend to produce.

BPCL also plans to add capacity at the new joint venture grassroots refinery it commissioned this year in Bina in Madhya Pradesh