Sanjay Gupta - Overview of the Indian Hydrocarbon Sector

Molecules to Market: Sanjay Gupta on 45 Years of Building India's Refining & Petrochemical Industry In this first episode of Molecules to Market, hosts Uwe and Nicolas sit down with Sanjay Gupta — former CEO of the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Project, and former Chairman & Managing Director of Engineers India Limited (EIL) — for a deep, first‑hand account of how India built its hydrocarbon industry almost from scratch. 🔗 Sanjay's profile: https://portfolio-pplus.com/Experts/E... 🔗 Global Oil Refineries (select 'India' in 'Refinery Imports' for a mapping of Indian refineries): https://portfolio-pplus.com/Refining/ Over four and a half decades, Sanjay was directly involved in conceptualizing, engineering, and implementing megaprojects worth billions of dollars — from the earliest topping refineries to today's fully integrated refining‑petrochemical complexes. In this conversation, he traces that journey in remarkable detail: the discovery of oil at Mumbai High, the founding and mandate of EIL, India's first petrochemical ventures at Nagothane and Pata, the liberalization of the refining sector, the rise of Reliance and Nayara, the shift from fuels‑only refineries to petrochemical integration, the Euro emissions transition, hydrogen and captive power challenges, and where India's refining and petrochemical sector stands today. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction & Welcome 1:56 Sanjay's Background: From Mussoorie to Engineers India Limited 4:13 India's Refining Sector After Independence 6:02 Founding & Mandate of Engineers India Limited (EIL) 8:28 Oil & Gas Struck at Mumbai High (Mid-1970s) 10:29 Refinery Expansions, FCCs & Early Configurations (1980s) 17:15 India's First Foray into Petrochemicals (IPCL, Gujarat) 21:55 Early Petrochemical Complexes: Maharashtra Cracker, HVJ & Pata 26:23 Economic Liberalization & the Private Sector (Early 1990s) 27:36 Reliance, Nayara & the National Oil Majors 30:13 Refinery Capacity Data & Barrels-to-Tonnes 32:21 Modernization & Rising Complexity (1990-2010) 34:51 Secondary Processing: Hydrocrackers, FCC & Cokers 38:37 Fuels Refineries, Euro-VI & the Hydrogen Challenge 43:11 Captive Power Plants & Grid Reliability 45:42 The Petrochemical Boom: Petro-FCC, DCC & Propylene 55:29 Integrating Steam Crackers into the Refinery 1:01:07 Fuels vs. Petrochemicals: Refinery Flexibility 1:03:05 The Strait of Hormuz Crisis & Switching to LPG Mode 1:07:06 Optimal Conversion: Why India Avoids Crude-to-Chemicals 1:09:54 Gas & Hydrogen Economics in India 1:11:52 The Third Decade: Integrated Refineries, Cokers & Slurry Hydrocrackers 1:20:18 Gas Supply, LNG, Biomass & Green Hydrogen 1:27:26 Product Evacuation: Pipelines, Rail & LPG Distribution 1:34:09 Import & Export: India as a Refined-Products Hub 1:40:43 Reliance's Integration, Crude Sourcing & Sanctions 1:50:27 Conversion Rates: India vs. Global Benchmarks 1:56:26 The World's Biggest Complex That Never Was & Crude Diet 2:03:00 Wrap-Up: The Model Refinery Project & Closing Molecules to Market is a program by Portfolio Planning PLUS (ppPLUS), bringing together technology, economics, and real facility‑level data to give industry professionals a grounded, technical view of the global energy and petrochemical landscape — beyond the headlines. 🔗 Platform: www.portfolio-pplus.com 📩 Suggest a guest or topic: [email protected] 🔗 LinkedIn:   / portfolio-planning-plus