NEW DELHI, July 31 � GAIL (India) Limited and Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) have signed an agreement for marketing the petrochemical products of Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL).
The agreement was signed by General Manager (Petrochemicals Marketing) GAIL, J S Saini and Director (Finance), BCPL, Rakesh Kumar Kamra. Top officials of both the companies, including, Director (Marketing), GAIL Prabhat Singh and Managing Director, BCPL JK Singh Teotia were present on the occasion.
According to the agreement, GAIL would market 2,20,000 tonnes of High Density Polyethylene and Linear Low Density Polyethylene along with 60,000 tonne of Polypropylene proposed to be produced annually by the BCPL plant.
With this development, GAIL will be marketing 7,80,000 MTs of polymers per annum by 2012-2013. GAIL holds approximately 21 per cent share in polyethylene market.
According to official sources, BCPL has already placed purchase orders and the contracts worth over Rs 3540 crore and the placement of remaining orders and contracts were being expedited. Civil and structural works for the main process units, namely Ethylene cracker unit, Poly ethylene unit (HDPE/LLDPE), Poly propylene unit, C2+ extraction unit, Gas processing unit, Gas de-hydration unit and Gas sweetening unit have commenced.
The total capital expenditure (Capex) incurred till the middle of July was about Rs 4343 crore and total expenditure planned for 2010-11 is Rs 2272.32 crore, sources added.
Prabhat Singh said that with marketing of BCPL products, GAIL would be adding over 50 per cent of the current volume and increase its spectrum of product offerings including polypropylene in its product portfolio.
On the aspect of licensor�s technology, Singh said that �the manufacturing process of BCPL products would add gas based process in polymer production wherein GAIL Petrochemicals already use the slurry and the solution processes�.
The BCPL Managing Director said that the plant would be commissioned in 2012 and soon the products would cater to the markets in North-east creating opportunities in downstream sector. This would positively contribute in the socio-economic development of the region, he said.
BCPL will produce various ranges of polymers for different applications in sectors such as packaging film, roto, injection, raffia, and blow moulding. This would boost the supply of different end use products like water storage tanks, household items, house-wares, crates, buckets and packaging materials, woven sacks for packaging of fertilizers and cement, containers for edible oil and chemicals.
The Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited is a joint venture company (JVC) with GAIL as the lead promoter with 70 per cent equity. The other partners of the JVC are Oil India Limited (OIL), Numaligarh Refineries Limited (NRL) and Assam Government, with 10 per cent equity.
The integrated Petrochemical Complex at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh comprises a cracker unit, downstream polymer and integrated off-site, utilities plants, facilities for Gas Sweetening and Ethane and Heavier Hydrocarbon Recovery Unit at Lakwa.
