Would India be a major refining hub?

India to emerge as a major refining hub

On Monday, three engineering firms announced new projects that they
had bagged in the past few days. Nothing uncommon at this time of the
year.

However, all of them have received orders from India's largest oil
firm IndianOil Corporation, for work at the proposed oil refinery at
Paradip, Orissa.

The 15 million tonne refinery is expected to be completed by the
mid-2012. The next few months are likely to see the commissioning of a
6 million tonne refinery, built by Bharat Petroleum in Madhya Pradesh.
The third public sectors, refining major.

Hindustan Petroleum is also building a 9 million tonne facility at
Bhatinda, Punjab. Earlier this year, Reliance had commissioned its
second major facility at Jamnagar. The export-oriented refinery added
29 million tonnes of capacity.

The three new oil refineries will create 30 million tonnes of fresh
capacity in a market, which already has a major surplus capacity
During FY 2009, India consumed 134 million tonnes of fuel.

Meanwhile, the installed capacity was close to 180 million tonnes.
While India is a major importer of crude oil, it has also emerged .in
the recent years as an exporter of fuel products such as diesel and
petrol.

Apart from the new projects, some of the existing refiners have also
planned expansions. Mangalore-based MRPL has recently completed a
project that took up the capacity by 3 million tonnes.
Asian Age, New Delhi, March 30, 2010