BPCL To Build Rs 49,000 Crore Ethylene Cracker Project At Bina Refinery In Madhya Pradesh

State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) will make an investment of Rs 49,000 crore in petrochemical and capacity expansion Project at Bina Refinery, taking the 'Fortune Global 500' Company closer to becoming a front-runner in the petrochemicals industry in India.

The core component of the expansion projects is the establishment of an Ethylene Cracker (EC) Complex, including downstream Petrochemical Plants, which will drive the production of essential petrochemicals.

Apart from this, the existing Refinery capacity will also be expanded from 7.8 MMTPA to 11 MMTPA.

Indian companies are boosting their petrochemical production capacity as the expanding economy boosts the need for goods ranging from plastics to paints and adhesives. A cracker produces ethylene, required for products such as plastics.

Demand for petrochemicals could nearly triple by 2040, according to estimates by top refiner Indian Oil, forcing companies to make big investments to set up new facilities across the country.

Rationale

The refinery at Bina currently is configured for producing auto fuels. In order to remain competitive and improve refinery profitability further, BPCL has identified Ethylene and Propylene based bulk commodity chemicals for its diversification to Petrochemicals.

Bina refinery expansion will meet the growing demand of petroleum products in central and northern India while also providing necessary feedstock to EC complex. The Petrochemical Plant will cater to the growing domestic demand for petrochemical products.

Bina Refinery

The BPCL Bina Refinery was incorporated as a Joint Venture between BPCL and OQ SAOC (formerly known as Oman Oil Company SAOC) in the year 1994 to set up central India refinery under a bilateral agreement.

With significant co-operation from the Government of Madhya Pradesh, Bina Refinery set up a 6 million tonnes per annum (MMTPA) grassroots petroleum refinery at Bina in the serene surroundings of Bundelkhand.

Since commissioning in May 2011, the Company has achieved significant milestones and expanded its capacity to 7.8 MMTPA in 2018-19 to cater to demand of petroleum products in the market and also have plans to foray into Petrochemical business.

In the year 2021, the Company become wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation.

The state-owned petroleum major has currently a combined refining capacity of around 35.3 MMTPA through refineries at Mumbai, Kochi, and Bina, which are strategically located.