Refinery locations in India
Topic: Manufacturing Industries of India: Location and Distribution · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Refineries turn crude oil into products such as petrol, diesel and LPG. Indian refineries are found in two kinds of places:
- Coastal refineries stand at ports and process imported crude, which arrives by ship.
- Inland refineries stand near big markets or old oilfields. Pipelines bring crude to them.
Refineries also feed petrochemical units, so organic chemical industries grow around them.
Example
- Coastal: Jamnagar and Vadinar, Mumbai, Kochi, Mangaluru, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Paradip.
- Inland: Mathura, Panipat, Barauni, Bina, Bongaigaon, Guwahati, Numaligarh and Digboi.
Reliance's Jamnagar refinery on the Gulf of Kutch (Gujarat) is the world's largest single-site refinery. It handles about 1.4 million barrels a day.
Don't confuse with
- Oilfields: an oilfield is where crude oil is taken out of the ground. A refinery is where it is processed, and it may be far away from any oilfield.
Related concepts
- Chemical industry
- Fertiliser industry
- Jamnagar refinery
- Pharmaceutical clusters of India
- Bulk drug parks