BPCL lets contracts for expansions at Bina, Mumbai refineries

Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) has awarded separate contracts to Technip Energies NV for delivery of major works on key projects designed to support expanded production of petrochemicals at two of the operator’s Indian refineries.

Under a first contract revealed on Jan. 7, Technip Energies said it will provide engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) services for grassroots polypropylene and Butene-1 units to be installed at BPCL’s 7.8-million tonne/year (tpy) refinery at Bina, Madya Pradesh, as part of the refiner’s previously announced Bina petrochemicals and refinery expansion plan (BPREP) project.

The proposed BPREP grassroots units covered under the EPCC contract will produce 550,000 tpy of polypropylene and 50,000 tpy of Butene-1, respectively, according to the service provider.

The EPCC contract award follows BPCL’s 2023 approval of a 490-billion rupees (nearly $6 billion) investment for BPREP, which aims to expand nameplate processing capacity of the Bina refinery by 3.2 million tpy to 11 million tpy to primarily cater to feed requirements for the new petrochemical units’ production of polymer-grade ethylene and propylene to supply downstream polymer production units at the site.

In addition to boosting crude capacity, BPREP involves installation of a dual-feed cracker that will produce 1.2 million tpy of ethylene for new downstream units equipped to produce 1.15 million tpy combined of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE), 550,000 tpy of polypropylene, and aromatics such as benzene, toluene, and mixed xylenes.

In its latest annual report for fiscal year 2024-25, BPCL said that, as of Mar. 31, 2025, it had achieved an overall progress of 11% on BPREP, with the entire project scheduled for completion in May 2028 at a total investment of 433.67 billion rupees.

Under a second contract award also confirmed on Jan. 7, Technip Energies said it will deliver engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) services for a new 3-million tpy petro resid fluidized catalytic cracker (PRFCC)—which will be the first of its kind in India—at BPCL’s 12-million tpy refinery in Mumbai, Maharastra.

The service provider’s scope of work under the EPCM contract also covers auxiliary units, as well as associated offsite and utilities installations.

Designed to convert heavy refinery residues into lighter, higher-value products, the planned PRFCC unit at Mumbai follows BPCL’s approved investment of 142 billion rupees to replace the refinery’s existing but outdated FCC unit, BPCL said in its 2024-25 annual report.

According to BPCL’s website, the PRFCC comes as part of a longer-term investment plan to gradually diversify the refinery’s production of petrochemicals, which alongside the new PRFCC, also would include installation of a new 1.5-million tpy kerosine hydrotreater to be integrated with the refinery’s existing diesel hydrotreating unit.

While BPCL has yet to confirm a definitive timeline for completion of the Mumbai PRFCC project, the operator said in its latest annual report dated July 30, 2025, that commissioning of the new unit would not occur for “more than 3 years.”

While Technip Energies did not disclose specific values of either the EPCC or EPCM contracts—both of which were formally awarded in fourth-quarter 2025—the service provider indicated combined value of the orders represented revenue in a range of €250-500 million.