Gail (India) Ltd will invest Rs 2,500 crore to increase the capacity of its petrochemical plant in Pata, Uttar Pradesh, to 8,00,000 million tonne per annum (mtpa) in 2-3 years.
Gail (India) Ltd, the state-owned gas transportation company, will invest Rs 2,500 crore to increase the capacity of its petrochemical plant in Pata, Uttar Pradesh, to 8,00,000 million tonne per annum (mtpa) in two to three years.
Delhi-based Gail, which accounts for almost one-fifth of the country’s total polymer production, currently has the capacity to produce 3,00,000 mtpa of ethylene and 3,10,000 mtpa of polymers - high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). The capacity expansion to 4,10,000 mtpa is underway and another HDPE plant with a capacity of 1,00,000 mtpa is being set up.
UD Choubey, chairman and managing director, Gail India, said, “By March, the Pata plant will have the capacity of 5,00,000 mtpa and the company will have six furnaces.” After this expansion is complete, work will begin to augment capacity by another 3,00,000 mtpa, Choubey said on the sidelines of Petrotech 2009, an oil and gas event that is held in New Delhi once every two years.
Gail India, which had been planning a mega petrochemicals complex overseas, is keen on setting up a plant in Qatar. “I had a meeting with the Qatar oil minister (on Wednesday) and he expressed interest in our petrochemical project. He has invited a team from Gail and Reliance Industries (RIL) to visit Qatar,” said Choubey.
Gail India and RIL have a memorandum of understanding under which both the companies will together scout for a suitable location abroad and set up a mega petrochemical plant there. “We have identified some 4-5 countries and a decision in this regard will be taken soon,” he said.
Gail India, which is looking at city gas distribution for the next level of growth, has identified 230 cities to spread its network. “We are awaiting regulatory approval for expanding our network. We are ready with the plan,” Choubey said. The company plans to take its network to these 230 cities by 2015, he added. Towards this, Gail India is setting up 12,000 km of pipeline, which will be in place by the end of March 2012. The pipeline is a part of integrated gas grid, under which pipelines covering 20,000 km are being set up by various companies.
India’s current gas production is close to 87 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) and the total supply, including imports, is 108 mmscmd against a demand of 200 mmscmd. RIL’s KG basin is expected to release 80 mmscmd of gas at peak production capacity, which may ease the demand-supply mismatch to some extent.
However, by the end of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan Period, the demand is expected to shoot up to 280 mmscmd while availability will still be 200 mmscmd, say experts.
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