IndianOil to set up India’s first mega-scale Maleic Anhydride Plant at Panipat

New Delhi, November 2, 2021

The public sector Indian OIl Corporation (IOC) will set up India's first mega-scale Maleic Anhydride plant to manufacture value-added chemical products at its Panipat Refinery and Petroleum Complex (PRPC).

The IndianOil Board has given the go-ahead for the project, a press release from the company said.

The project with capex of Rs 3,681 crore will be commissioned in 54 months from stage 1 investment approval, it said.

The project is proposed to have a capacity of 120 KTA (kilo tonnes per annum) of Maleic Anhydride (MAH) that is used to make specialty products like polyester resins and surface coatings plasticizers, agrochemicals and lubricant additives.

The plant will also manufacture 20 KTA of 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) that finds applications in Poly Urethanes (PU), Poly Butylene Terephthalates (PBT) - an engineering grade plastic and biodegradable fibres. Another value-added chemical, 16 KTA of Tetra Hydro Furan (THF), will also be produced from this plant to accelerate the growth of the pharmaceutical industry. THF is also widely used in adhesives and vinyl films.

S M Vaidya, Chairman, IndianOil, said, “Presently, these high demand chemicals are mostly imported by India. The upcoming MAH plant will reduce import dependence and save foreign exchange of about US$ 150 million per year, thus 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. This project will consolidate IndianOil’s basket of niche products and increase the Lube and Petrochemical Integrity Index of Panipat Refinery to more than 15% after the refinery expansion plan is implemented."

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 specialized units will make it one of the most advanced and integrated refinery and petrochemical complexes in Asia, with a complexity index of over 15, the release said.

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 also be expanded along with the implementation of grass-root specialty petrochemical units like the Styrene unit and the just-approved Maleic Anhydride Unit.

NNN