BPCL Plans to Invest Rs. 1.5 Lakh Crore in the Next 5 yrs Towards Project Aspire; Draws Net-Zero Roadmap with Additional Capital Outlay of Rs. 1 Lakh Cr

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (“BPCL“), a prominent Maharatna and Fortune Global 500 Company, unveiled its ambitious roadmap for the next five years at the 70th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held today. “The company has planned a capex outlay of around Rs. 1.5 Lakh Crore in the next five years. We believe this will enable BPCL to create long-term value for its stakeholders while preserving the planet for future generations,” said G. Krishnakumar, Chairman & MD, BPCL.

Shri G. Krishnakumar, Chairman & Managing Director

Speaking at BPCLs annual shareholders meeting, Mr. Krishnakumar said, “We have consciously taken deliberate steps in reassessing and re-prioritizing our focus areas in light of the latest industry trends and governmental policies. Introducing Project Aspire – our new strategy that is built on eight pivotal pillars. These pillars are clubbed under two main themes: Nurturing the Core and Future Big Bets. Nurturing the Core has three foundational pillars: Refining, Marketing and Upstream. Future Big Bets is anchored on five key areas: Gas, Non-fuel Retailing, Petrochemicals, Green Energy Businesses, and Digital Ventures. This aspiration is our roadmap to the future, and together, we will journey through this transformative era.“

BPCL has recently approved an Ethylene Cracker Project at Bina. With an investment of Rs. 49,000 crores, this project marks a historic milestone as the largest single investment in BPCLs history. As a part of the project, the capacity of Bina Refinery is being enhanced from 7.8 MMTPA currently to 11 MMTPA, which is expected to go a long way in securing BPCL’s markets in the Northern and Central India. “We believe that this project will drive the production of essential petrochemicals – increasing the share of petrochemicals in BPCL’s product portfolio to approximately 8%. This investment dovetails well with the government mission to make India a self-reliant and globally competitive petrochemical manufacturing hub,” added Mr. Krishnakumar.

“With an aim to expand BPCL’s infrastructure network, BPCL will be setting up POL (Petroleum Oil & Lubricants) & LOBS (Lube Oil Base Stock) installations along with receipt pipelines at Rasayani, with investments of approximately Rs. 2,753 crore. This is expected to debottleneck the evacuation of products from Mumbai Refinery and ensure seamless supplies, particularly to the Northern markets,” said Mr. Krishnakumar.

BPCL is also diligently expanding its CGD networks across 25 Geographical Areas covering 62 districts in the country.

Towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2040 for both Scope 1 & Scope 2 emissions, BPCL has drawn a net-zero roadmap which encompasses the Green Energy Businesses, Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS), efficiency improvement, and the offset procurements. This would require an estimated phased capital outlay of approximately Rs. 1 lakh crore till 2040 and BPCL is geared for the same.

In E-Mobility, BPCL plans to provide electric vehicle charging facilities at 7,000 energy stations in the next five years. Certain highways are already equipped with BPCL’s Rapid Charging EV Corridors.

In the Biofuel space, having achieved 10.6% ethanol blending in petrol in 2022-23, BPCL plans to increase the blending to 12% in FY 2023-24 and endeavors to reach 20% blending by 2025. BPCL is also setting up an integrated 2G + 1G Ethanol Bio-refinery at Bargarh, Odisha which is scheduled for completion by March 2024.

In the renewables space, BPCL aspires to build 1 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2025 and 10 GW by 2040 – through both organic and as well as inorganic routes. BPCL will be investing approximately Rs. 1,000 crore to set up two 50MW captive wind power plants in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to support the refineries in Mumbai and Bina.

In line with the government efforts towards boosting Green Hydrogen capacity, BPCL is also setting up a Green Hydrogen Plant at the Bina Refinery to meet the hydrogen requirements of the refinery.

Speaking about BPCL’s plans for the forthcoming rights issue, Mr. G. Krishnakumar said, “The initiatives under Project Aspire and the Net-Zero targets require substantial investments and the same are proposed to be funded through a combination of equity and debt, in addition to internal generations. In pursuit of this, BPCL has proposed a rights issue of equity capital of upto ₹ 18,000 crore towards funding of projects relating to Energy Transition, Net Zero and Energy Security Objectives.”

About Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL)

Fortune Global 500 Company, Bharat Petroleum is the second largest Indian Oil Marketing Company and one of the premier integrated energy companies in India, engaged in refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products, with a significant presence in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. The company attained the coveted Maharatna status, joining the elite club of companies having greater operational & financial autonomy.

Bharat Petroleum’s Refineries at Mumbai, Kochi and Bina Refinery have a combined refining capacity of around 35.3 MMTPA. Its marketing infrastructure includes a network of installations, depots, energy stations, aviation service stations and LPG distributors. Its distribution network comprises over 21,000 Energy Stations, over 6,200 LPG distributorships, 525 Lubes distributorships, 123 POL storage locations, 53 LPG Bottling Plants, 70 Aviation Service Stations, 4 Lube blending plants and 4 cross-country pipelines.

Bharat Petroleum is integrating its strategy, investments, environmental and social ambitions to move towards a sustainable planet. The company has chalked out the plan to offer electric vehicle charging stations at around 7000 energy stations over next 5 years.

With a focus on sustainable solutions, the company is developing a vibrant ecosystem and a road-map to become a Net Zero Energy Company by 2040, in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Bharat Petroleum has been partnering communities by supporting innumerable initiatives connected primarily in the areas of education, water conservation, skill development, health, community development, capacity building and employee volunteering. With ‘Energising Lives’ as its core purpose, Bharat Petroleum’s vision is to be the most admired global energy company leveraging talent, innovation & technology.