Indian Oil Corp, the country's largest refiner, expects its crude processing to inch up in 2017/18 despite planned maintenance at some plants. 

The company's head of refineries told Reuters in an interview late on Monday that "high runs" at one of its biggest plants, on the east coast, would offset the impact of maintenance work at other facilities.

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IOC, which accounts for over a third of India's 4.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity, is likely to process 1.4 million bpd in the fiscal year that starts in April, said Sanjiv Singh. That would be up from 1.34-1.36 million bpd in the current year.IOC plans to completely shut its 160,000 bpd Mathura refinery in northern India for a month for planned maintenance in 2017/18, Singh said, without specifying when that would happen.

It also expects to carry out maintenance on units at its 120,000 bpd Barauni refinery in the eastern state of Bihar and Koyali facility in the western state of Gujarat, which can refine 274,000 bpd. But he said that IOC's 300,000 bpd Paradip plant would ramp up to 100 percent of capacity in 2017/18. The refinery is currently operating at 90 percent.