IOC Haldia’s petrochemical expansion gets off the ground after years of delay | What CM Adhikari said | Today’s news
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has assured Indian Oil Corporation of land clearance for its long-term plans to develop a petrochemical complex next to its Haldia refinery.
Noting that the expansion would require 175 acres of land, the Chief Minister on Monday said that the Haldia Development Authority has already arranged 85 acres and the remaining could be facilitated through the Haldia Dock Complex at Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port.
Adhikari said he has taken up the matter with the port authorities to ensure that the land is made available to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for its proposed expansion.
The official said: “If that happens, then the IOC will send the project to the board for consideration.”
The state oil company said it is considering an expansion in Haldia that could include a chemical downstream project. For years, OC had been eyeing a 175-acre site adjacent to the Haldia refinery to expand its operations and develop downstream petrochemical facilities.
In 2023, an IOC official said the company wanted to develop a petrochemical complex adjacent to the Haldia refinery, arguing that a stand-alone refinery was not sustainable in terms of profitability and needed to be supplemented with petrochemical products.
The company said it wants to replicate in Haldia the model adopted at its Paradip refinery, where a large petrochemical ecosystem has been developed around the refinery.
The land requirement has been a long-standing constraint on expansion in Haldia.
Then in 2021, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to the Ministers of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Shipping seeking their intervention to make available around 175 acres held by Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation Ltd.
The IOC also pointed out difficulties in expanding the refinery as it is bounded by the Hooghly River and railway lines, canals and roads, making HFCL’s land on the eastern side a key contiguous parcel available for expansion.
Commissioned in 1975 with an initial capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per annum, the Haldia refinery has since been expanded to nearly 9 million tonnes per annum and now produces fuels, lubricants and specialty products.
The official IOC profile says the refinery commissioned its second catalytic isodewaxing unit in 2024, which produces Group III base oils.
The development comes at a time when the West Bengal government is trying to facilitate industrial projects by making land available through mechanisms including direct purchase and land pooling.
