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Better technology can help India cut its crude imports, said Rajeev Gautam, President and Chief Executive Officer of UOP, a Honeywell Company, while showcasing new technology developed by his company.
Stating that there also exists a natural climate of reluctance to adopt new technology among Indian companies, he said if Uniflex, the new technology from the UOP stable, is adopted, refiners can process 5-7 per cent more products from every a barrel of crude oil.
In the normal refining process, about 10 per cent of a barrel goes waste as residual products.
If deployed across all refineries in India, it would generate 13 million tonnes more products and cut down the crude import bill by $9 billion, Gautam told Business Line .
Quality distillate
Uniflex processes low-quality residue streams such as vacuum residue, to make very high-quality distillate products. Honeywell’s UOP is a supplier and licensor of processing technology, catalysts, adsorbents, process plants, and technical services for the oil refining, petrochemical and gas processing industries.
Honeywell’s business in India (sales and exports) contributes $1.3 billion to its global revenue of $36.5 billion. The US-based company feels India will see increased demand for finished products and petrochemicals in the coming years.
Gautam said that UOP sees new businesses coming from South-East Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam in the next few years. He did not disclose the additional revenue that UOP hopes to garner from these markets.
Outside Asia, parts of Latin America and Russia are other growth areas for UOP. Early this year, Honeywell spent $34 million to set up its India technology centre in Gurgaon.
This centre deals with refining, petrochemical, low-global-warming and nylon technologies and applications.
Hiring
Nearly a third of global engineering is sourced from India, said Mark S. Turowicz, Managing Director (Performance Materials and Technologies) of UOP India Pvt Ltd.
Currently, it employees around 400 heads and will hire more professional as the business grows, Turowicz said. He did not divulge the exact number of new employees to be hired.
The Gurgaon unit features pilot plants for refining and petrochemical process technology.
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