BPCL to build US$700 mn refinery & petchem project in Andhra Pradesh

India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has picked Andhra Pradesh to set up a new oil refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, which may be the last greenfield project in India. The state-owned oil marketing company has an ambitious energy transition plan to transfer to net zero emissions.

In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, BPCL said its board “accorded its approval to commence pre-project activities for setting up a greenfield refinery cum petrochemical complex in east coast at Andhra Pradesh at an estimated cost of US$700 million. BPCL did not reveal the timelines for completing the project.

According to BPCL, the pre-project activities include initial studies, land identification and acquisition, preparation of a detailed feasibility report, environment impact assessment, basic design engineering package, and front-end engineering design. The refinery could have a capacity of at least 180,000 barrels per day.

The planned unit in Andhra Pradesh is touted as India’s last greenfield refinery project. BPCL is part of a consortium pursuing a 60 million tonnes/year refinery-cum-petrochemical complex on the west coast of Maharashtra, which was conceived six years ago but has yet to get off the drawing board due to land acquisition woes.