Despite the slowing economy and low demand for Petroleum products Reliance Petroleum Limited has come out strongly with a record capacity utilization.Reliance Petroleum Limited is a dream project of the Ambani's. It is the first refinery to be set up by the private sector in India. This dream is the world's largest grassroots refinery, and the seventh largest refinery in the world at any single site, with a capacity of 27 million tons per annum, at Jamnagar, in Gujarat.
The capital outlay of this project is a huge Rs.14,250 crore (US$ 3.4 bn). The project cost has been financed on a conservative basis at a debt equity ratio presently at 0.86:1. Reliance controls an approximately 64 percent stake in Reliance Petroleum Ltd. Benchmarks had to be created to usher in the new generation of refining. The refinery has been set up at 30 percent lower per ton capital costs, as compared to other refineries recently set up in Asia, by leading international oil companies. This has established new benchmarks for capital productivity. This lower per ton, capital costs translate into a sustainable competitive advantage for the company, enhancing its ability to capture growth opportunities in India and abroad.
The refinery had to set new standards. The RPL is amongst the most complex refineries in the region, with a Nelson's Complexity Index of 9.93. The high degree of complexity indicates large secondary processing capacity, leading to higher value addition, and higher refining margins, as compared to less complex refineries. The refinery has been built adhering to the highest international standards of safety and environmental protection, and has the technical capability to deliver products of international specifications, even beyond Euro II norms. It is the only refinery in India, which is capable of producing gasoline with less than one percent benzene content, and diesel with less than 0.05 percent sulphur content, right from the first day of its operations.
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