IOC approves CPCL’s proposed Cauvery Basin grassroots refinery

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd.’s (IOC) board of directors has approved subsidiary Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (CPCL) to move forward with development of its previously announced plan to build a grassroots 9-million tonnes/year refinery at Cauvery Basin, in Panangudi Village, Nagapattinam District, Tamilnadu, India (OGJ Online, May 13, 2019; Apr. 3, 2019).

Alongside approving construction of the proposed Cauvery Basin refinery at an estimated cost of 293.61 billion rupees, IOC’s board on Jan. 29 also granted in-principal approval for incorporation of a joint venture under which IOC (25%) and CPCL (25%) would hold a combined 50% equity interest for developing the project, IOC said in filings to India's BSE Ltd. and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.

Subject to statutory approvals, the remaining 50% interest in the new refinery JV would be held by outside financial, strategic, or public investors to be identified later, IOC said.

IOC’s approval for the proposed refinery follows previous consideration of the project in mid-2020 at a total estimated cost of 289.83 billion rupees (OGJ Online, June 4, 2020).

Intended to help meet southern India’s demand for petroleum products, the planned Cauvery Basin project will involve dismantling of CPCL’s existing 1-million tpy refinery at the site—which ceased operations on Apr. 1, 2019—for the new construction, according to project documents from CPCL, the government of India, and Engineers India Ltd. (EIL), which completed a detailed feasibility report as well as carried out technology evaluation and process licensor selection for the project.

As currently proposed, the new refining and integrated petrochemical complex will include the following major units and capacities:

• Combined crude-vacuum distillation unit; 9 million tpy.
• Naphtha hydrotreating unit; 1.5 million tpy.
• Isomerization unit; 570,000 tpy.
• CCR unit; 625,000 tpy.
• Diesel hydrotreating unit; 5 million tpy.
• Vacuum gas oil hydrotreating unit; 3 million tpy.
• INDMAX FCC unit; 2.43 million tpy.
• INDMAX FCC gasoline hydrotreating (desulfurization) unit; 700,000 tpy.
• OCTAMAX unit; 125,000 tpy.
• Polypropylene unit; 475,000 tpy.
• Delayed coking unit; 2.5 million tpy.
• Hydrogen generation unit; 98,000 tpy.
• Sulfur recovery unit (SRU) with independent tail-gas treatment unit (TGTU), Train 1; 432 tonnes/day.
• SRU with independent TGTU, Train 2; 432 tonnes/day.

While CPCL currently is pursuing environmental approval for the greenfield complex, timelines for the project’s construction and targeted commissioning have yet to be determined, according the operator’s latest annual report to investors.