BPCL to invest Rs 1.5 lakh crore in capex over 5 years, green energy focal point

State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) will spend Rs 1.5 lakh crore over the next five years, on what it has christened ‘Project Aspire’, which will focus on strengthening BPCL’s gas, non-fuel retailing, petrochemicals, and digital ventures and green energy businesses.

“We believe this will enable BPCL to create long-term value for its stakeholders while preserving the planet for future generations”, G Krishnakumar, chairman & managing director at BPCL, told shareholders during the company’s 70th annual general meeting..

Under ‘Project Aspire’, the company will be re-prioritizing focus areas in accordance with industry trends and governmental policies, Krishnakumar said. 

The company will continue to focus on upstream activities and is betting on monetising discoveries in Mozambique and Brazil. The company will also enhance refining capabilities, especially in Northern India in anticipation of a predicted product deficit of approximately 10 million metric tonne (MMT) per annum by 2030.

BPCL is also enhancing the capacity of its Bina refinery from 7.8 MMT per annum currently to 11 MMTPA, in a bid to secure markets in northern and central India. At the same time, it is setting up an ethylene cracker at Bina with an investment of Rs 49,000 crores which is expected to increase the share of petrochemicals in BPCL’s product portfolio to approximately 8 per cent.

The company has also set a target to become a net zero emitter by 2040, for which it has earmarked Rs 1 lakh crore to be spent during this time. The capital would be pumped in the company’s green energy businesses, carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), efficiency improvement, and the offset procurements.

The investments for both roadmaps have been proposed to be funded through a combination of equity and debt, in addition to internal generations. The company has proposed a rights issue of equity capital of up to Rs 18,000 crore towards funding both projects, Krishnakumar said.

In pursuit of achieving its net-zero plans, BPCL is looking to build 1 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2025 and 10 GW by 2040, through both organic and inorganic routes. The company will also be inviting close to Rs 1,000 crore to set up two 50 megawatt captive wind power plants in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

BPCL is also setting up a green hydrogen plant at its Bina refinery to meet its hydrogen requirements. At the same time, it plans to provide electric vehicle charging facilities at 7,000 energy stations in the next five years.

Most companies dabbling in non-renewable energy are transitioning to cleaner sources as the government ramps up its target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070. Similar to BPCL, GAIL (India) Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum have also set a 2040 target to achieve net zero carbon emissions from their operations.

Reliance Industries, which operates the world’s biggest refining complex, aims to achieve net zero by 2035, while the country’s top refiner, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), aims to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2046.

The company, one of three state-owned oil and gas companies apart from IOC and Hindustan Petroleum, was a focal point of the government’s huge disinvestment programme in previous fiscals. However, the plan was scrapped in 2022 after no suitable bidders were found.