Gujarat emerges as India's 'petro capital': Officials

Ahmedabad: With the world's largest grassroot oil refinery in Jamnagar and OPaL petrochemical complex at Dahej in Bharuch district, Gujarat is now recognised as the 'petro capital' of India, officials said.

Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) Jamnagar refinery is the largest and most complex single-site refinery in the world with 1.4 million barrels per day (MMBPD) crude processing capacity, they said.

As per the official website of RIL, the Jamnagar refinery complex houses some of the world's largest units, such as the fluidised catalytic cracker, coker, alkylation, paraxylene, polypropylene, refinery off-gas cracker and petcoke gasification plants.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel recently threw light on the impact of the state's petrochemical sector.

"Industrial development is an important means to realise the resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The chemical and petrochemical sector's sustainable growth has surpassed all (other states)," Patel said at an event.

In the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) held in 2019, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs 3,000 crore was signed for a bio-refinery in the Dahej Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), followed by a Rs 7,000 crore MoU in 2022 for chemical manufacturing in Dahej, officials said.

The 10th edition of the VGGS will be held in Gandhinagar between January 10 and 12 next year on the theme of ‘Gateway to the Future’.

UPL Limited Chairman & Group CEO Jai Shroff recently commended Gujarat's progressive policies for the remarkable growth of the sector.

"Thanks to the support extended by the Gujarat government, major players of this sector have scaled new heights in the global market. These companies started as small scale units but eventually grew into major players. As a result of proactive government policies, the state contributes to around 75 per cent of the country's total dye and intermediates manufacturing," said Shroff.

With companies like Reliance, Shell, ONGC and others already having their manufacturing set up in Gujarat, experts believe the state will one day be unparalleled in its chemicals and petrochemicals sector.

The Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region at Dahej in Gujarat's Bharuch district is one of the four PCPIRs declared by the Centre under the PCPIR Policy 2007, as per its website.

The Gujarat PCPIR is spread over 452.98 square km area and is well connected by road, rail, port and air connectivity.

ONGC Petro additions Limited, or OPaL, facility at the PCPIR is one of South Asia's single largest petrochemical complexes, OPaL's website said, adding the mega petrochemical complex is spread over 5 sq km with a capacity to produce 14 lakh tons of polymers and 5 lakh tons of chemicals.

While OPaL is the 'Anchor Tenant' of PCPIR, it also houses manufacturing and processing facilities of BASF, ONGC, RIL, Welspun, Pidilite and GNFC among others.