ONGC, IndianOil, BPCL, HPCL, GAIL and Oil India all exceeded their initial annual capex target for 2023-24, according to the oil ministry data.
Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s top refiner and fossil fuel retailer, was the largest spender among state oil firms. Its expenditure of ₹38,660 crore in 2023-24 was higher than the initial outlay of ₹30,395 crore and the previous year’s spending of ₹35,205 crore. IndianOil is building a greenfield refinery in Tamil Nadu in a joint venture with Chennai Petroleum. Last month, Indian Oil said it would now take a 75% stake in the Tamil Nadu refinery project whose cost had escalated. Earlier it had agreed to take only 50%. IndianOil’s investments have flown into refining, petrochemicals, pipelines, gas infrastructure and biofuel production facilities.
ONGC, the nation’s top producer of oil and gas, was the second-largest spender. It spent ₹34,551 crore, 14% higher than ₹29,209 crore in the previous year and 15% more than the original capex target of ₹30,125 crore for 2023-24. The company has drilled a record number of 541 wells during the year, said Manish Patil, director (finance) at ONGC. “ONGC has plans to maintain this enhanced level of capex of around ₹33-35,000 crore in the next three fiscals for newer energy prospects and to monetise the discovered reserves on fast-track,” said Patil.
Hindustan Petroleum made an expenditure of ₹13,842 crore in 2023-24, the third highest among state oil firms. This was similar to the amount HPCL spent in 2022-23 but higher than the initial target of ₹10,210 crore set for 2023-24. HPCL is building a greenfield refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Barmer, Rajasthan. The project has seen massive cost escalation. The company has also been investing in expanding its natural gas, biofuel and transportation infrastructure.
Bharat Petroleum, another refiner and fossil fuel retailer, spent ₹11,000 crore, higher than the ₹10,000 crore it had budgeted for this year originally but marginally lower than its previous year’s spending of ₹11,527 crore.GAIL, the nation’s top transporter and marketer of natural gas, spent ₹10,388 crore in 2023-24, higher than the budgeted ₹7,750 crore for the year and ₹8,313 crore used in the previous fiscal.Oil India’s expenditure of ₹5,390 crore was higher than the target of ₹4,896 crore and the previous year’s spending of ₹5,057 crore.
