Honeywell UOP to scale up R&D in India to tap refinery, polymer market

New Delhi: US-based technology firm Honeywell International Inc. will SCALE up its petroleum research and development (R&D) here to tap opportunities from India’s massive refinery upgradation programme and petrochemical capacity expansion, according to a company official.

Honeywell UOP, the petroleum and polymer arm of Honeywell International Inc., which in May this year opened a technology centre in Gurgaon, one of its largest research facilities outside of the US, is planning to double the number of engineers in India to about 700, said Rebecca Liebert, president and chief executive officer of Honeywell UOP.

India’s public sector refineries are investing close to Rs30,000 crore for switching over to Bharat Stage-VI auto fuels by 2020, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said in January. State refiners with 230 million tonne a year capacity are also stepping up their crude processing capacity with an investment of over Rs52,500 crore under various projects to be completed between end of 2016 and 2019, as per official data. State refiners have petrochemical production capacity of 915 million tonne a year, which also is being expanded.

“We have already supplied some of our technology for upgradation of refineries to produce Bharat VI grade fuel. Refiners have already made a majority of their decisions to upgrade or are being made now as implementing new technology involves a two to four year CYCLE,” said Liebert.

Honeywell also sees opportunities in India’s petrochemical capacity expansion as well as energy efficiency drive meant to cut carbon emissions.

State-run refiners Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. had on 7 December announced their plan to set up a new 60 million tonne refinery cum petrochemical complex in Maharashtra, proposed to be the largest in the country.

Liebert said the company’s energy efficiency technology has helped businesses in industries like automobiles in other markets to save energy use by as much as 20%.

Expansion of refining and petrochemical capacity when global commodity prices remain soft enables refiners to secure services at a low cost, she said, adding that capital spending is now picking up.

“We saw a freeze in project funding by companies from the third quarter last year all the way through the middle of this year. But in third quarter of this year, things have started to move. Whether state companies or private companies, funding is now available and prices are lower. Companies that could continue their projects and investments have done well,” said Liebert.

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