'Refining capacity to grow at slower pace'

New Delhi: Indian refining capacity would expand at a far slower pace than was estimated earlier, according to latest government projection. Refiners would add 56 mtpa by 2028 to increase domestic capacity to 310 mtpa. "As per the data compiled by Centre for High Technology (CHT), a technical wing of ministry of petroleum and natural gas, the refining capacity of Indian refineries is projected to increase by about 56 mtpa by the year 2028," junior oil minister Rameswar Teli told Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Domestic refining capacity currently stands at 254 mtpa. Five years earlier, an oil ministry panel had prepared a detailed report on refining capacity and had projected the capacity to rise to 259 mt by 2020, 415 mt by 2025, and 439 mtpa by 2030. These projections were based on "firm plans and the projects already conceptualised and accepted in principle", the committee had then said.