DIBRUGARH, March 9 - After two initial years of sporadic holdups and limping starts, the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) here has jumped into the �operating profit� phase and is almost touching two lakh tonne production this financial year, BCPL Managing Director Ashok Kumar Singh said.
Referring to international trends, Singh said that normally for a petrochemical complex, to reach this level in the initial years of operation was an achievement of sorts.
�Our product is sold all across India. It is well accepted in the market, both quality and specification wise. As far as our production is concerned, there is no issue. This financial year, the profit can be said to be around Rs 100 crore. At this moment, we are exploring the possibility of exporting it to Bangladesh, Myanmar and other nearby countries,� he said.�
On facilitating local entrepreneurs in the Northeast, Singh said the BCPL was working towards a strategy to ensure that products are largely consumed in the region. �Regardless of the fact that consumption of the product in the Northeast has gone up from 200 to 2,600 tonnes in a year�s time, we are still trying to grow it further. Two years back, there were only about 170 plastic manufacturers in the Northeast but today it has grown to 230. This proves that there is growth and people are becoming confident.
�As far as the polypropylene market is concerned, 70 per cent is supplied in the Northeast. The market is still to pick up, which may be because the present consumers are using recycled products because it is cheaper. We are trying to convince them to buy our product. We are open to help potential entrepreneurs but the initiative must come from the locals. Our marketing team (GAIL India Limited) is also engaged in convincing local entrepreneurs of the region,� Singh said.
On the initial hiccups, Singh said interruption in the initial operation phase was a normal thing. �One or two months, there was indeed an interrupted kind of operation but we are on the right track now.
Practically speaking, this is our second year of operation. The plant may have been commissioned in 2015-end but in the real sense, this plant was stabilized in August 2016. After the commissioning, we faced certain feedstock issues and non-availability of certain chemicals. As per feasibility, the petrochemical plant was supposed to operate at 80 per cent in the first year, 90 per cent in the second period and 100 per cent ought to be achieved in the third year. But things are in place now and at the moment, we have exceeded 100 per cent potential,� he said.
