India Oil Corp plans 120,000 tonnes/year MA line at Panipat

MUMBAI (ICIS)–State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) plans to set up a 120,000 tonnes/year maleic anhydride (MA) plant at its refinery and petrochemical complex at Panipat in northern Haryana state, it said in a statement.

The IOC board has given its approval for the MA line, which would be used to manufacture value-added chemical products at the refinery complex, the company said in its statement on 1 November.

The company expects to commission the project, which will be set up at a cost of Indian rupees (Rs) 36. 81bn ($492m), around 54 months after it receives the necessary approvals, it added.

MA is used to make specialty products like polyester resins and surface coatings plasticizers, agrochemicals and lubricant additives.

The company will also produce 20,000 tonnes/year of 1,4 butanediol (BDO) and 16,000 tonnes/year unit of tetrahydrofuran (THF) at the complex.

BDO is used in the production of polyurethanes (PU) and polybutylene terephthalates (PBT) while THF is used widely in the pharmaceutical industry as well as in the production of adhesives and vinyl films.

“Presently, these high demand chemicals are mostly imported by India,” S M Vaidya IOC chairman said, adding that the proposed MA plant would help reduce import dependence.

“Petrochemicals integration is the cornerstone of our future growth strategy, given the high potential of petrochemicals in India. This project will consolidate IOC’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,” Vaidya said.

In February 2021, IOC had approved the Panipat Refinery Expansion Project to enhance its capacity from the current 15m tonnes/year to 25m tonnes/year.

“The expansion blueprint includes a polypropylene unit, and a lube complex for producing lube oil base stock apart from other refinery units,” the IOC statement said.

“The existing olefinic and aromatic complex shall also be expanded along with the implementation of grass-root specialty petrochemical units like the styrene unit and the just-approved MA unit,” it said.

($1= Rs74.82)

Focus article by Priya Jestin