Indian refiners are expected to raise their total refining capacity by up to 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the fiscal 2030 year, to meet domestic fuel demand growth, Crisil Ratings said on Friday.
In the decade to fiscal year 2024, India’s refining capacity increased by 42 million tons to 257 million tons, or to 5.16 million bpd. Refiners boosted capacity to meet the growing domestic consumption, as exports remained range-bound at around 1.3 million bpd over the period, the rating agency said in a report.
By the end of fiscal 2030, India is set to add up to 40 million tons, or over 800,000 bpd, to its refining capacity and push up the installed base capacity to 295 million tons, or 5.92 million bpd, according to Crisil Ratings.
The rise in capacity would be necessary to address the expected growth in consumption as the current capacities are already being optimally utilized, Crisil Ratings noted.
“Most of the capacity addition would be brownfield expansions to cater to demand for end products, thus lowering the project risks,” said Adds Joanne Gonsalves, Associate Director, CRISIL Ratings.
“Further, the sector benefits from its strategic importance to the government”.
Over the past decade, India’s domestic consumption of petroleum products rose by 4% per year, with transport fuels, accounting for around 56% of consumption, growing by 4% each year, according to Crisil.
“We expect overall petroleum product consumption to slightly moderate and register ~3% CAGR over the next six years, primarily due to slower growth of 2-3% in transport fuel consumption,” said Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings.
India will drive up to 35% of global energy demand growth over the next 20 years, petroleum minister Hardeep Puri said at the Gastech conference in Houston last week.
“If you say that global demand is increasing by one percent, ours is increasing by three times that,” Puri said. “In the next two decades, 35% of the increase in global demand will come from India.”
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