BPCL to put Rs 1.4 lakh crore in petrochemicals, gas business 

NEW DELHI: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), India’s second-biggest oil refining and marketing company will invest Rs 1.4 lakh crore in petrochemicals, city gas and clean energy in the next five years. Its chairman and managing director Arun Kumar Singh, in the company’s latest annual report said the energy landscape is changing globally and the company is recalibrating its strategies to leverage emerging opportunities while mitigating risks. “The company has firmed up plans to diversify and expand in adjacent and alternative businesses to create additional revenue streams,” said Singh. 

For expansion of its petrochemicals product portfolio, the company has identified two new refinery-integrated petrochemical projects –1.2 MMTPA Ethylene Cracker unit at Bina Refinery and 0.4 MMTPA Polypropylene unit at Kochi Refinery. In the natural gas sector, BPCL has secured licences for 8 new geographical areas (GAs) under the recently concluded 11th and 11A City Gas Distribution (CGD) bid rounds. 

To achieve its net zero emission by 2040, the company established a new business unit “Renewable Energy ‘’ to take forward this initiative. Also, the company has clearly articulated its RE targets to reach 1 GW by 2025 and 10 GW by 2040. BPCL has recently achieved blending of more than 10% ethanol in petrol and is committed to enhancing the blending in line with the road map laid out by the government.

In the electric mobility space, to address range anxiety pertaining to electric 4-wheelers, the company came up with a novel concept of creating highway fast-charging corridors.  Singh called the international energy market volatile and said the profit of domestic oil companies have taken a severe hit on the marketing side.