Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) is negotiating with lenders to make around Rs 32,000 crore ($3.8 billion), potentially the largest local-currency loan in India this year, Bloomberg stated. The state-run oil company has gathered interest, with the State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, anticipated to lead the deal.
Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Bank of India are among the lenders involved in the 15-year loan, with more potential participants, according to sources. The loan is required to be priced at approximately 8.4 percent, Bloomberg reported.
BPCL intends to enlarge its unified refining and petrochemical volumes over the next five to seven years to address increasing energy demand, Chairman G Krishnakumar stated to shareholders on August 30.
India's final expenditure of refined fuels and petrochemicals is forecasted to grow continuously by 4-5 percent and 7-8 percent, respectively, in the foreseeable future, Krishnakumar stated.
Earlier this year, BPCL exhibited the plans to boost its refining volumes to 900,000 barrels per day and develop two new petrochemical projects at its Kochi refinery in southern India (310,000 bpd) and its Bina refinery in Central India (156,000 bpd).
The company is mainly focusing on enlarging the Bina Refinery, with plans to enlarge its capacity to 15 MMTPA (Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum) by 2026. A considerable capital investment of Rs 49,000 crore is alloted for expanding refining capacity and increasing petrochemical integration.
BPCL's Kochi refinery expansion involves innovating to produce higher-value products and integrating petrochemical facilities, with Rs 15,000 crore allocated for improving capacity and producing more specialized petrochemicals.
The company aims to attain net-zero carbon release by 2040. To reach this goal, BPCL is investing Rs 1 lakh crore in renewable energy, green hydrogen, compressed biogas, and carbon capture utilization and storage to offset its carbon footprint.
