Work begins to set up India's biggest refinery
Work has begun to set up India's largest oil refinery near Ratnagiri, south of Mumbai.
Project consultant Engineers India will sell tender documents until May 8 to hire a back-up consultant for the 60m t/y refinery which will be set up by IndianOil (50%), Bharat Petroleum (25%) and Hindustan Petroleum (25%). ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, Bechtel, and Foster Wheeler are among those likely to respond but sources expect interest from other overseas consultants too.
"This is a prestigious project," says a likely bidder. "All the big names will bid." The back-up consultant must study how the refinery's different units should be configured and work with EIL to prepare a DFR over four or five months.
Based on the DFR, EIL will select technology providers and shortlist EPC contractors. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan was quoted by news reports on April 6 saying Saudi Aramco is interested in a stake in this $30bn refinery which will be implemented in two phases - 40m t/y plus 20m t/y - and will have petrochemical units like an aromatic complex, naphtha cracker and polymer complex.