New Delhi: The country's biggest oil firm Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will invest Rs 2 lakh crore in next five-seven years to expand refining and petrochemical capacities to maintain leadership position, its Chairman Sanjiv Singh said.
The plan is to almost double its oil refining capacity to 150 million tonnes per annum, expand fuels and LPG retailing network, jack up petrochemical production capacity and produce more crude oil and gas.
IOC is implementing a Rs 2 lakh crore investment plan in next five-seven years "to evolve into a future-ready corporate that provides comprehensive energy solutions to diverse user groups in an exciting phase of energy transition and technology disruptions," he said in the firm's latest annual report.
IOC wants to raise petrochemical production capacity to 13 million tonnes from the current 3.15 million tonnes. It is expanding Panipat naphtha cracking capacity and plans to set up new chemical projects in Gujarat, Paradip and Panipat. Also, the company is looking at rapid expansion in natural gas retailing by investing Rs 10,000 crore over the next eight years. IOC, which now has city gas license to retail gas in 40 cities, sold 3.96 million tonnes of natural gas in 2018-19. It wants to "triple current market share in gas business" and expand its presence in city gas to 60 geographical areas from current 40, it said. It wants to expand its presence in upstream oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) by investing in oil-rich countries.