India, the third largest crude oil importer worldwide, currently has surplus refining capacity and rarely imports oil products. However, the government forecasts that the upcoming wave of refinery shutdowns required for the introduction of new fuels compliant with Euro VI emission standards by 2020 may temporarily dent oil demand and push the country into importing refined fuels starting from 2019. The demand for refined fuel produced by India's privately-run refiners is also likely to increase significantly to fill the gap.
Indian refiners will have to shut down several gasoil and gasoline producing units for a certain time period (15 to 45 days) to be able to process Euro VI-compliant fuels starting from January 2020 and start selling them by April 2020.
The country's refining capacity currently stands at 4.7 mb/d and approximately 60% of the amount is controlled by state-held refiners such as Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum , Hindustan Petroleum and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals.