New Delhi: IndianOil Board has greenlighted the setting up of India’s first mega-scale maleic anhydride plant, to manufacture value-added chemical products, at its Panipat Refinery and Petroleum Complex (PRPC).
The project with a capex of Rs 3,681 crore opens in 54 months from stage 1 investment approval.
The project has a capacity of 120 KTA (kilo tonnes per annum) of maleic anhydride (MAH). MAH goes into speciality products like polyester resins and surface coatings, plasticisers, agrochemicals, and lubricant additives. The plant will also manufacture 20 KTA of 1,4-butanediol (BDO). BDO finds applications in polyurethanes, polybutylene terephthalates (PBT) – an engineering grade plastic and biodegradable fibres.
Nonetheless, Tetra hydro duran (THF) comes from this plant. This is to accelerate the growth of the pharmaceutical industry. THF goes into adhesives and vinyl films.
On the newly approved project, IndianOil Chairman S.M. Vaidya said: “Presently, India mostly imports these high demand chemicals . The upcoming MAH Plant will reduce import dependence and save foreign exchange of about $150 million per year. This is strengthening the mission of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Moreover, petrochemicals integration is the cornerstone of our future growth strategy, given the high potential of petrochemicals in India.
Also, “This project will consolidate IndianOil’s basket of niche products. It will increase the Lube and Petrochemical Integrity Index of Panipat Refinery to more than 15 per cent.”
The ongoing expansion of the Panipat Refinery (envisaging capacity expansion of the refinery from 15 MMTPA to 25 MMTPA) and the implementation of petrochemical and other specialised units will make this refinery one of the most advanced and integrated refinery and petrochemical complexes in Asia, with a complexity index of over 15. The expansion blueprint includes units like Indmax for deriving maximum value from the petrochemical molecule, polypropylene unit and a lube complex for producing lube oil base stock apart from other refinery units.
The existing olefinic and aromatic complex will expand. Thereafter, the implementation of grass-root speciality petrochemical units will follow.
