IndianOil to move ahead with $600m styrene monomer project at Panipat Refinery

Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil) said that its board has accorded stage 1 approval for a styrene monomer project to be developed with a cost of INR 44.95 billion ($600 million) at its Panipat Refinery & Petrochemical Complex.

The styrene monomer project will have a capacity of 387 thousand metric tonnes per annum (TMTPA). Anticipated to be commissioned by 2026-27, the styrene monomer plant will help expedite the growth of the Indian downstream sector.

Styrene is used for producing polystyrene, paints and coatings/acrylic, unsaturated polyester resins, elastomers like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) among others.

Earlier this year, an expansion project at the Panipat Refinery was approved under which the existing capacity of 15MMTPA is planned to be ramped up to 25MMTPA with an investment of INR 329.46 billion ($4.43 billion).

IndianOil to move ahead with $600m styrene monomer project at Panipat Refinery. Photo courtesy of SatyaPrem from Pixabay.

As part of the Panipat Refinery Expansion Project, IndianOil will install a new high severity fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) with a capacity of 2.5MMTPA based on the company’s INDMAX technology. The FCCU unit will help the Panipat Refinery maximize LPG production and basic petrochemical building blocks of propylene and ethylene.

According to IndianOil, there is a propylene potential of nearly 514 KTA in the refinery expansion project, which will be used for the production of polypropylene (PP) through a new unit.

The announced styrene monomer project is planned to use the ethylene potential from the INDMAX unit and benzene which is already being produced at the Panipat Refinery.