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ShareKolkata: Phillips Carbon Black (PCBL), part of the RPG Group, has deferred plans to set up a 55,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) carbon black plant along with a 16 megawatt (mw) power plant in Vietnam. The $46 million project is a joint venture between Phillips Carbon Black and Vietnam National Chemical Corporation (Vinachem).
Industry sources said the project has been "put on hold" because of the economic slowdown.
The Vietnam project is supposed to be PCBL's first overseas venture. The plant was to be commissioned in the first half of fiscal 2010-11. According to sources, the site for the Vietnam project has been identified and a token amount for land remitted.
Sources said that the final payment is to be released after financial closure, but this has been deferred until the global liquidity scenario looks up. However, the environment impact assessment study (EIA) has commenced, and commercial production is expected to start within 18 months of the financial closure.
PCBL is India's largest manufacturer and exporter of carbon black, which is mainly used in automobile tyres. The company's greenfield 90,000 mtpa plant at Mundra, being set up at an investment of Rs 220 crore, along with a 16 mw co-generated power plant, will go on stream in the second quarter of 2009-10. The structural and civil work on the project has been completed.
RPG group vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka said, "All other plants are on schedule. The Vietnam project has been deferred, not delayed, because of the economic slowdown."
