Indian Oil Corporation or IOC is about to set a petrochemical complex in Haldia, West Bengal to earn profits in operations.
More than having a standalone refinery (currently existing with a capacity of 8.5 mn tonnes per annum or MTPA) by IOC is required as per the company.
According to an official of the company, the PSU has sought land from Haldia Fertiliser Corporation or HFC for building the complex, which is 175 acres and is near a refinery. The official of IOC also stated that the land is on lease by Haldia Dock Complex to the Ministry of Chemicals and fertilisers. The official said that the ground had been searched for the petrochemicals project.
The company official said that IOC’s Paradip refinery has a capacity of 15 MTPA and has various petrochemical units around it. It provides varied profitability margins to the operations at Paradip that IOC wants to replicate at Haldia City.
It also has been turned into a petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region, per the official.
According to the official, the petrochemical project’s capacity relies on the feedstock quantity, i.e., naphtha from the refinery. The official also stated that the land is needed for safety as the Haldia Refinery complex has become too congested.
Currently, the land is only being used for port-related purposes, such as facilitating export-import cargo, which has been communicated to the center’s concerned authority as per the Haldia Dock Complex’s officer.
Meanwhile, according to the minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, the HFC land issue has been informed to him by IOC.
While the Haldia unit is situated on 640 acres, the Paradip refinery is developed on 5,000 acres, as per the official at IOC.
