Mumbai: State-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is working on plans to develop a petrochemical park alongside its Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh, a senior company official said.
“Discussions are underway with the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation (MPIDC) on creating a petrochemical park near the Bina complex,” Sanjay Khanna, director (refineries) with additional charge of chairman and managing director, told ET. “The initiative is aligned with BPCL’s broader strategy to maximise value addition and encourage downstream industries.”
BPCL is expanding its Bina refinery, boosting capacity from 7.8 mmtpa (million metric tonnes per annum) to 11 mmtpa and integrating the petrochemical complex with a 1.2 mmtpa ethylene cracker to produce polymers, at a cost of ₹49,000 crore.
The project will cater to the growing market demand for petrochemical products in India, wherein BPCL plans to directly supply petrochemical molecules such as ethylene through pipelines to downstream units. “Normally, ethylene flows internally into polyethylene units. But we are making these molecules available to other players via pipeline infrastructure,” Khanna said. “Because these molecules are otherwise not transportable, interest from industry has been strong.”
The Bina refinery expansion is scheduled for commissioning by May 2028. The company sees the co-location of allied petrochemical units as strategically important. “Why transport large volumes of intermediates and finished products elsewhere if they can be consumed locally? Madhya Pradesh currently does not have a petrochemical plant, so this can become a significant consumption hub,” Khanna said.
An industry official said while the overall size of the petrochemical zone is still in the works, initial projects are expected to occupy around 40-50 acres. “Value creation in secondary units is very high. With sufficient investment capacity, this can scale meaningfully over time,” the official said.
To strengthen its petrochemical portfolio in the south, BPCL is also implementing a 400 ktpa Polypropylene plant at Kochi refinery. The project is conceptualised with an investment of ₹4,460 crore and is targeted to be completed by October 2027.
BPCL’s proposed Andhra Pradesh refinery is also being envisaged as a petrochemical-intensive complex. The company requires approximately 6,000 acres, of which about 1,000 acres have already been acquired.
Environmental clearance activities are already done, and detailed feasibility studies are underway, with a final investment decision (FID) targeted around March-April 2026.
