R&D Centre – Empowering the Innovation

IndianOil has taken pioneering role in India in setting up its R&D Centre way back in 1972 at Faridabad, Haryana, which is equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities. After establishing a strong super brand SERVO in the field of lubricants and building the competence of supply of lubricants in diverse field of applications, IndianOil diverted its focus on technologies and catalyst in the area of petroleum refining. Today, IndianOil has commercialized and perfected several of its technologies developed during the last three decades. It has also come out with several catalysts and additives with superior performance.

Apart from making remarkable contributions, in core petroleum areas like Lubricant, Refining, Petrochemicals and Pipeline, it is pursuing pioneering work in emerging areas like Solar Energy, Hydrogen, Energy Storage, CCU Technologies, Bioenergy, Nanotechnology, etc. The state-of-the-art R&D facilities is located on a sprawling 65-acre campus in Faridabad on the outskirts of the National Capital. An impressive array of most advanced micro-reactor units, pilot plants, specialized / customized equipment, testing / analytical instruments, etc. are available to experienced researchers and scientists round-the-clock. IndianOil is first to cross the milestone of 1500 patents filed among Indian Oil & Gas companies and has won recognition for decades of its pioneering work.

Focus Areas:

  • Lubricants
  • Refining Technologies & Catalysts
  • Petrochemicals & Polymers
  • Pipeline Maintenance & Inspection
  • Fuels & Additives
  • Alternate Energy
  • Bio-Energy
  • Nanotechnology
  • E-Mobility
  • Applied Metallurgy and Tribology
  • IndS_UP StartUp Scheme

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Lubricants:

RnDOver 1000 grades of lubricants developed by R&D are marketed under the super lubricant brand name "SERVO" encompassing every conceivable application for complete lubrication solutions in the automotive, industrial and marine segments. R&D developed eco-friendly engine oils “SERVO Greenmile 5W-30” and “SERVO Raftaar 15W-40”, launched for passenger cars and commercial vehicle segments respectively with distinguished friction and oxidation properties in BS-VI vehicles. New auto grades “SERVO 4T Xtra”, “SERVO Futura NXT 0W-16” developed and launched. SERVO Green Combo Lubricant Solution of high efficiency Engine, Transmission and Axle Oil formulations (“SERVO Pride FE 10W-30”, “SERVO Synchcro SS 75W-80” and “SERVO Gear Axle SS 80W- 110”) launched in combination with green diesel fuel. Green combo lubricants continued to garner enthusiastic market acceptance. Received the prestigious National Energy Efficiency Innovation Award by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) for Green Combo. The centre further acts as a solution provider to the rising demand for customized lubricants, especially for the Indian Defense Forces.

Refining Technology:

RnDIndianOil R&D Centre has developed, commercialized and perfected over the years a sizable portfolio of well proven, refinery process technologies including the required catalysts and additives. It has demonstrated its innovative prowess in development of basket of technologies, highly relevant in the emerging scenario, and their successful commercialization. Most of these technologies have been demonstrated at IndianOil refineries and are in regular operation contributing to the gross refining margin. A dedicated ‘Technology Implementation Cell’ has been set up, which is focused on providing all the services and inputs as offered by typical Technology Licensors. Since the ‘Process/Catalyst Development’ and ‘Design & Engineering’ Groups are under the same roof, continual improvement is faster and comprehensive. For all its technologies, IndianOil on its own or through its technology partner provides a single point solution for technology licensing, including supply of Basic Design and Engineering Package (BDEP), catalyst, reactor internal, mandatory technical services, etc. as per the standard industry practice. The details of the technologies offered for licensing are provided in “IndianOil’s Technology Basket”.

Click here to see Indianoil's Refining Technology Basket

Click here to view the Catalysts & Additives offered by IndianOil.

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Petrochemicals & Polymers:

Besides focusing on development/ indigenization of catalysts and additives, etc., this Group renders technical support in the field of petrochemical & polymer to enhance product quality and reduce the production cost. Successful licensed the in-house developed ‘Xtraflo’ Drag Reducing Additive for commercial production. As an emerging centre of excellence in Ziegler-Natta Catalyst in polymer research, it has helped standardize its polymer grades and produced new products/grades based on market requirements.

Pipeline Maintenance & Inspection:

RnDR&D has been actively pursuing research in the areas of pipeline transportation and development of pipeline inspection tools like MFL (magnetic flux leakage) based IPIG technology, gas pipeline inspection tool, advanced sensors for liquid pipeline inspection, Artificial Neural Network based Data analysis software and Integration of Inertial Measurement Unit for obtaining GPS coordinates. R&D Centre has designed and fabricated the largest and smallest ever IPIG tools of 28” and 8” diameters. With this, IndianOil now has indigenous tools to cover >95% of captive needs for inline inspection of crude and product pipelines of different sizes. Transportation of neat biofuels and its blends as well as compressed biogas through cross country pipeline are identified for research work in near future. R&D Centre and Pipeline Division of IOCL are working together to create the in-house operational expertise for large scale deployment of these technologies.

Fuels & Additives:

IndianOil R&D Centre works consistently to enhance quality of fuels by incorporating additives to improve engine performance and reduce environmental impact. New patented process technologies and novel chemistry additives are developed to improve quality of existing fuels and to produce next generation high performance products such as XP95, XP100 (Gasoline), XtraGreen diesel, Marpol 2020 compliant FO for marine applications and special fuels for defense forces. Commercialized novel AVGAS 100 LL formulation for use in turbocharged aircraft reciprocating piston engines to replace imports. Also, R&D Centre is rigorously working on the development of oxygenated fuel like ED5, MD15, E15, E20 etc. Further, diesel Exhaust Fluid “ClearBlue”, Commercialized for diesel vehicles.

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Alternate Energy:

RnDIndianOil R&D has emerged as a pioneering institute undertaking cutting edge research in all facets of hydrogen, including production, storage and applications like fuel cells and harnessing of different alternative energy sources. It has developed cost effective single step compact Steam Methane Reforming process for direct HCNG production from NG. Development of Type-3 high-pressure hydrogen cylinder technology to store compressed hydrogen at 350 bar pressure is at advance stage of field testing and validation. For use by rural & semi-urban population, it has developed single & double cooktop Solar Cooker “Surya Nutan” capable of storing and discharging thermal energy on demand. R&D Centre is pursuing cutting edge research in the field of advanced battery chemistries to develop India specific energy storage solutions in a cost-effective manner using indigenously available materials.

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Bio-Energy:

The GoI through the initiatives taken under Bio-Fuel Policy 2018 has identified Ethanol Blending as a potent solution to stubble burning issue with possibility to increase farmers’ income. IndianOil R&D has developed a cost effective and high-performance enzyme technology for conversion of Lignocellulosic biomass to 2G ethanol. It has also developed an optimized anaerobic process for converting various type of organic wastes to higher yield of biogas along with production premium quality bio-fertilizer using proprietary know-how (Agri-Elite).

Nanotechnology:

The thrust of nanotechnology research in IndianOil R&D Centre is to develop nanomaterials, nano-fluids and catalysts for application in fuels, lubricants, processes & alternate energy including energy storage devices. Some of the remarkable solutions developed are Indane Nanocut, Indane XtraTej, nano-dispersions for end use in fuel, lubricants and catalysts.

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IndS_UP StartUp Scheme:

R&D Centre has been involved in incubation of projects through the IOCL IndS_UP Startup Scheme. Under this scheme till date 36 Projects are on-boarded in 3 rounds generating 75 IP wealth for IOCL. Major areas of funding / support are Leveraging Internet of Things / Software as a Service, Adoption of Technology, Societal relevance & for addressing Pain Points of Oil & Gas Sector. Besides funding, IndianOil is being closely involved by handholding the identified Startups through dedicated Process Owners till achievement of Proof of Concept. To further foster a culture of innovation and create intellectual wealth, the next chapter of IndianOil Startup Scheme launched on 10th March, 2023 on the theme “Green Resolve - Amrit Kaal Adhyay”. It can be accessed through dedicated online portal

AV on StartUp Scheme

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Click here for IndS_UP StartUp Scheme Brochure

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Marching Forward:

To further expand its footprint and facilitate transformation to an integrated energy company, IndianOil is setting up the world’s largest net-zero (power & water) new campus at Faridabad with GRIHA-5-star rating, LEED platinum standards. The second campus, titled IndianOil Technology Development & Deployment Centre, will house four numbers of Centre’s of Excellence (CoE).

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