Ahmedabad, Nov 5 (IANS): Indian Oil Corporation has sought approval from the Gujarat government to acquire land for the expansion of crude refining process at its Gujarat Refinery in Koyali village on the outskirts of Vadodara, an official said.

According to IOC’s Gujarat Refinery executive director S.K. Dhar Gupta, the PSU plans to expand its crude refining from the existing 13.7 million metric tonnes (MMT) a year to 18 MMT.

The company requires 130 acres of land for the expansion project, and 55 acres from this had already been acquired. Negotiations are on with the local farmers for the rest of the land. The IOC would acquire the land only through the Gujarat government and so had sought its approval, he said on Wednesday.

The refinery has plans to implement a petrol and diesel quality improvement program according to the centre’s auto fuel vision-2025. The PSU expects the remaining 75-acre land parcel to be available by next year to be able to expand operations and start fuel according to BS-IV norms by 2020.

The company would pump in Rs.1,800 crore to upgrade the Koyali refinery to produce fuel compliant with Euro-IV emission norms, an official spokesperson of the IOC at its Mumbai office added.

Currently the Gujarat refinery is spread across 1,950 acres of land, including its two terminal operations and five primary Atmospheric Distillations Units. The capacity expansion project will include new units like AVUs (Atmospheric and Vacuum distillation Unit) of nine million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), along with a few bottom upgradation secondary units.