Prime Minister Modi dedicates opening of Bharat Petroleum’s Integrated Refinery Expansion Complex

Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated the Bharat Petroleum Corporation’s Integrated Refinery Expansion Complex and also laid the foundation stone of the Petrochemical Complex at Kochi Refinery on 27 January 2019.

This marks the successful culmination of the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project (IREP), which was conceptualized to transform the Kochi Refinery into a world-class refinery, with the largest refining capacity among public sector refineries, able to produce cleaner fuels for India. It also will commence the production of feedstock for petrochemical projects.

BPCL completed the INR16,500 crore (USD2.3 billion) project last October last year, ramping up the capacity of the unit to 15.5 million tonnes (MT) from the earlier 12.4 MT. This compares with the 15 MT capacity each of Indian Oil Corp.’s Paradip refinery in Odisha and Panipat refinery in Haryana.

“Today is a historic day when the largest industrial unit of Kerala is entering its next phase of development. It is indeed a proud moment not just for God’s Own Country, but also for the entire nation,” Modi said.