No plans to offer non-blended petrol, no controversy over E20

How do you look at the controversy over ethanol-blended petrol? Do you plan to offer consumers the choice of buying non-blended petrol too? And is E20 (20 per cent ethanol blending) as efficient as petrol?

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As of now, we do not have any plan to offer non-blended petrol. We will see how it pans out and take a call accordingly. There is no controversy on E20 petrol. All the equipment manufacturers, labs, and agencies have certified that there is no problem with E20. We have a good example of Brazil, where petrol blended with 27-32 per cent ethanol is being sold. The efficiency of E20 is more or less on a par with that of petrol.

India aims to become a refining hub. How can IOC contribute to that?

Given the need for India's increasing demand for fuel, IOC started expanding brownfield refineries three-four years ago. These projects are set to increase the group's refining capacity from 80.4 million tonnes to 98 million tonnes per annum. They are scheduled to be commissioned next year. The increased capacity will take care of a large part of the increased demand for petroleum products. In the same timeframe, other refinery projects will also come up, including the expansion of the Rajasthan and Numaligarh (Assam) refineries.

Which markets do you plan to target for export?