India’s second-largest fuel retailer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), is set to boost its refining capacity by 10 million tons per year by 2028, joining other major Indian refiners in a bid to meet rising fuel demand.
BPCL, which is state-controlled, currently has a refining capacity of 35.3 million tons per year. By 2028, the company plans to expand this to 45 million tons annually, according to Sanjay Khanna, BPCL’s head of refining, who spoke at an industry event on Tuesday.
The planned capacity increase will focus on the company’s refineries in Mumbai, Bina, and Kochi, Khanna said.
Earlier this year, BPCL revealed it is in talks with local banks to secure a loan of about $3.8 billion. The funds would be used to expand the Bina refinery, located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
In addition, India’s largest oil and gas explorer, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is reportedly planning an $8.3-billion refinery and petrochemical project in a bid to capitalize on the country’s growing fuel demand. The project is expected to be in India’s most populous state, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg in September.
India is positioning itself as a major refining hub in Asia, as it expands refining capacity and continues to rely on fossil fuels at least until 2040, according to Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
“Our existing refineries will not only increase in capacity but also become regional hubs for supplying fuel to other countries,” Puri said last month.
Puri also noted at the Gastech conference in Houston earlier this year that India will contribute to 35% of the global growth in energy demand over the next two decades.