Integrated Model of Computable General Equilibrium and Social Cost Benefit Analysis of an Indian Oil Refinery: Future Projections and Macroeconomic Effects

Cost benefit analysis (CBA) has long been used as a useful tool to appraise and evaluate the value of a range of investment projects to a society. Certain aspects of this method such as the appropriate discount rate is an important concern, because the choice of discount rates deeply affect the valuations of future income streams. Other aspects concerning financial flows and appropriate ‘shadow prices’ have also received considerable attention. However, when a megaproject with the character of a ‘universal intermediate’ is considered, its multiplier effects may be wide-ranging and permeate several economic and social layers and may be captured only in the aggregates. This study examines the costs and benefits of Vadinar refinery in Gujarat with a focus on this welfare dimension on society for the project. The framework explores a methodological breakthrough in CBA studies. In constituting the macroeconomic effects of expansion of the mega oil refinery, the wider economic impact (WEI) is estimated using the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and incorporated into the CBA. This assimilation of CBA with macroeconomic externality obtained from the CGE model framework is perhaps only one of its kind in economic analysis of major infrastructure projects of any country. CBA when combined with CGE as an analytical tool can be gainfully employed to appraise or evaluate large scale projects like oil refineries. JEL Classification: B41, C51, C52, C53, C54, C55, D50, D58, D60, D61, D62, H23, H43, L71, O22, Q43