Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s petroleum and natural gas minister met with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and SIBUR Holding chairman Dmitry Konov during his visit to Russia – Rupec, Mint

The main agenda of both meetings centred around cooperation in oil and gas production, petrochemistry, and the implementation of joint projects.

Rosneft currently holds shares of the Indian oil giant Nayara Energy, which operates a refinery in the city of Vadinar and a network of gas stations across India. In the near future, the company plans to build plants for the production of polypropylene with a capacity of up to 450 thousand tons per year and increase the number of petrol stations in the country to 8,000 over the next few years.

The state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is currently discussing cooperation in the construction of a large oil plant in India with Sibur amid growing demand for petrochemical products in the country.

IOC plans to invest Rs 1 trillion over the next four to five years and increase its current production capacity to 105 million tonnes per year.

India plans to develop its energy partnership with Russia and diversify its energy basket by importing crude oil from countries outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is interested in signing long-term contracts for the supply of crude oil from Russia. The first contract for the supply of two million metric tons was signed in February last year.