IOC to emerge as global petrochem giant
By agencies   |   Tuesday, 08 February 2005, 20:30 IST
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MUMBAI: IndiaÂ’s largest energy company, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd is implementing a master plan to emerge as a global petrochem giant with an investment of over Rs 25,000 crore over next five years, said M S Ramachadran, the IOC Chairman here today. ''Innovation is todayÂ’s buzzword for achieving competitiveness, growth, profitability and leadership in any industry,'' he said at the 'Chemtech 2005', chemical and pharmaceutical industries international exhibition and conference. Giving an overall picture of the industry, Ramachadran said that the petrochemical sector in India has offered opportunities considering low per capita consumption of polymers in the country. In the past two decades, there was just 13 percent growth in the polymer sector and demand for polymers in the country would grow by 15 percent by 2012. Therefore, sizeable opportunity exists for domestic growth as well as export potential for petrochemicals in Asia including China. ''With this aim, we have commissioned an Alkine Benzene plant in Gujarat, in last August. It is the largest plant in the world. We are also in the process of setting up an integrated Parazylene-PTA project at the cost of USD 1.2 billion, which will be commissioned at Panipat by the end of 2005, he said. ''We are also working on a naptha-craker complex at Panipat by utilising surplus naptha from Panipat, Gujarat and Mathura refineries. This project will involve investment of about USD 1.5 billion and will be the most competitive cracker complex, which will be complete by 2007,'' he added. ''We also plan to do sizeable investment in Paradeep refineries at USD six to eight billion, which will create a combined refinery and petro-chemical complex and would be a world-scale project on the eastern coast of India,'' he said.

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