Oil & gas and beyond: future-ready energy systems accelerating “Viksit Bharat 2047”
Jan 12, 2026
The Oil and Gas sector has played a key role in the growth of India’s industrial sectors, and the country stands as one of the largest sources of global oil demand growth during this decade and beyond. The trend can be traced in terms of India’s projected crude oil processing capacity to reach around 310 MMTPA by the end of this decade from around 258 MMTPA at present. Demand for both fuels and petrochemical products is a key driver for these anticipated capacity additions.
Indian refineries have been evolving to adapt to the shift in the global energy dynamics with flexibility, processing diverse crudes, producing low-carbon fuels, integrating petrochemicals, and supporting SAF and biofuel production. Retail networks are transforming into multi-energy hubs as well, providing facilities that include fuel, EV charging (both base, battery swapping and fast charging), biofuels, LNG, and other services.
The country faces shortfalls across the range of petrochemical products, including commodity polymers such as PP, PVC, LLDPE, HDPE, PET and low volume high value niche petrochemicals like SAP among others, prognosticating the installation of a number of liquid and gas crackers in the years to come.
In addition, scenarios such as the penetration of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the transportation segment, bottom of the barrel upgradation, higher volume of high TAN opportunity crude processing and improving Energy Intensity Index (EII) etc., necessitate new refinery configurations providing flexibility of operation to owners, adoption of energy efficient technologies amenable to the product supply demand trends and commercialisation of crude oil to chemicals conversion processes to name a few.
For instance, HRRL- Rajasthan Refinery Project (RRP) with petrochemical intensity around 26%, HMEL’s Petro addition project, India’s first of its kind Rasid Upgradation Facility (RUF) at HPCL-Vizag, Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) Units by GAIL & PLL, upcoming large petrochemical projects by IOCL-Paradip and BPCL-Bina are some of the testaments of the nation’s progress aligned with the emerging industrial trends.
Further, the demand for ATF is anticipated to grow approximately seven times the present consumption level of around 8-9 MMTPA by 2040. As the country onboards the CORSIA regulation, with 1% SAF blending in ATF target in 2027, refiners have started exploring a variety of feedstocks for SAF production. It is important to note that the country’s biofuels program is already in full swing to meet the demand for fuel-grade ethanol for blending in gasoline and the production of green chemicals. The technology development in this area is also opening avenues for pathways like Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) to produce SAF in the years to come, creating possibilities of integration of biorefineries with the existing refineries.
The ongoing energy transition has already pushed refiners to take several decarbonisation initiatives, including integration of concentrated solar thermal technology with the process units, AI-enabled digitalisation & automation, green hydrogen, and carbon capture and utilisation (CCUS), etc., for achieving their net-zero emissions objectives. Also, harnessing nuclear energy, especially using Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), presents an opportunity to decarbonise the energy sector.
At EIL, we are privileged to contribute to this evolving landscape. Our portfolio now spans traditional hydrocarbons, biofuels, green hydrogen, ammonia, petrochemicals, SAF, carbon capture, digital monitoring systems, and advanced asset integrity solutions. We are committed to shaping a sustainable and technologically enabled energy future, leveraging the company’s core engineering strength and indigenous technology development.
The transition ahead is complex but achievable through shared purpose and collaborative action. Hence, redefining business models, evolving investment decisions, building resilient infrastructure, and integrating new energy systems with the existing energy assets, aligned with the global best practices of technology-driven, policy-supported, and investment-enabled energy transition, could be instrumental in accelerating the country’s vision to achieve “Viksit Bharat” by 2047.
Energy Connects includes information by a variety of sources, such as contributing experts, external journalists and comments from attendees of our events, which may contain personal opinion of others. All opinions expressed are solely the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Energy Connects, dmg events, its parent company DMGT or any affiliates of the same.
