November 2, 2026: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) achieved 37 per cent of its capital expenditure (capex) target of ₹327 billion for the current financial year in the first half ended September 2026. The company's pace of spending assumes significance as it is linked to India's ability to reliably meet rising petrol, diesel and LPG demand.
 
The company spent ₹121.62 billion in the April-September 2026 period, with a majority of the spending, around ₹93 billion, directed at the refining and marketing segments of the business, while ₹13 billion was spent on petrochemical projects.
 
IndianOil also spent ₹13.06 billion on petrochemical projects, ₹5.82 billion on building new pipelines, ₹1.33 billion on natural gas projects, ₹1.09 billion on research and development, while only ₹1.21 billion was spent on the exploration and production (E&P) segment during the six-month period.
 
This capex rate is in contrast to the situation last financial year, when the company, India's largest state-owned refining and marketing company, had spent nearly half, over 47 per cent, of the annual capex target by the end of September.
 
"These investments are aligned with our long-term strategic roadmap and national energy priorities," Nitin Kumar, Executive Director, Corporate Finance and Treasury at the company, told investors in a conference call. He added that the company is undertaking phase-wise commissioning of process unit utilities and offsite capacities in a structured manner to enable progressive capacity build-up and integration.
 
Overall, projects entailing investments of ₹1.04 trillion are currently under implementation by Indian Oil. These include two large projects - the ₹138.05 billion Paraxylene-Purified Terephthalic Acid (PX-PTA) Complex at Paradip Refinery and the ₹32.20 billion New Mundra-Panipat Crude Oil Pipeline - which have been mechanically completed since July 2026 and are currently under commissioning.
 
The company also expects to complete three large refinery expansion projects by the end of next month. These include the Panipat Refinery Expansion, which targets increasing capacity from the existing 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 25 MTPA, with an approved cost of ₹382.31 billion.
 
The other two projects include the ₹189.36 billion Gujarat Refinery Expansion, targeting an increase in capacity from 13.7 MTPA to 18 MTPA, and the ₹181.13 billion Barauni Refinery Expansion, which aims to boost capacity from 6 MTPA to 9 MTPA by December 2026.
 
The company is also spending ₹32.20 billion on setting up a new research and development (R&D) campus at Faridabad in Haryana, and ₹29.49 billion on setting up a polybutadiene rubber plant at Panipat in the state.
 
The company's management also informed on a conference call that it plans to expand renewable energy generation capacity from the existing 259 Gigawatt (GW) to 31 GW over the next five years. For this, IOC would invest between Rs 50 billion and Rs 100 billion as equity contribution in joint ventures incorporated to set up clean energy projects. 

(Source: Business Standard)