Indian state-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) remains on course to start its petrochemicals unit at its new Pachpadra refinery in the western state of Rajasthan during the fourth quarter of 2026.
The new refinery — HPCL Rajasthan Refinery (HRRL) — was expected to start in April but was delayed till 4 July after a fire broke out in the heat exchangers stack in April.
The company remains confident about bringing on some of the capacity online by November or December, Saugata Chaudhuri, head of petrochemicals, HPCL, told Argus on the sidelines of the Injection, Blow Moulding & PET International Business Summit & Exhibition in Mumbai on 30 June.
"The fire was localized, and the best part was we could arrest the issues very quickly. So, we could reposition ourselves and inaugurate the refinery soon," Chaudhuri said. Focus will now shift to the timely startup of the petrochemical units, he added.
The facility will house a 1mn t/yr polyethylene (PE) plant, with two linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE)/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) swing production lines of 500,000 t/yr each. An integrated 1.2mn t/yr dual-feed cracker will supply the ethylene to the PE plants. The PE plant will also produce metallocene-grade LLDPE and HDPE pipe PE100 grade. The complex will also produce polypropylene (PP) with a capacity of 1mn t/yr.
India is import-dependant on several grades of PE, PP. The specialised grades will help substitute imports, helping converters during critical times of geopolitical uncertainties and supply disruptions, Chaudhuri said.
India's PE imports in April in 2026 slumped to the lowest level in four years due to the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz. Exports from the UAE — traditionally India's largest PE supplier — led the decline, falling by 79pc between March and April.
Argus-assessed PP raffia prices at $1,100-1,140/t cfr India for the week to 26 June, down from $1,350-1,430/t cfr India on 10 April. LLDPE prices were assessed at $1,090-1,150/t cfr India for the week to 26 June, compared with $1,430-1,500/t cfr India on 10 April.
Eyes on exports
HPCL also remains confident on potential export opportunities for some of the specialised products.
"We are keenly looking at European markets because some northeast Asian players are active there," Chaudhuri said.
"Even in West Africa there's a lot of appetite and there are some Indian players who are active there, so we want to leverage that relationship," he added.
South Korea exported 555,000t of PP to the 27 EU member countries, excluding the UK, in 2025, while India's exports totalled at just 19,670t, according to data from Global Trade Tracker. India and the EU are likely to finalize and sign a free trade agreement by the end of the year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last month.
