Assam Petchem plans 165,000/ty methanol unit

03 June 2008 12:57  [Source: ICIS news]

MUMBAI (ICIS news)--India’s Assam Petrochemicals plans to build a second methanol plant of 165,000 tonnes/year at Namrup, Assam, said a company source on Tuesday.

"A completion date will depend on when we secure gas allocation. We are holding talks with Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) for supplies and this is likely to take a few more months," added the source.

The company would need 30-36 months to build the plant, which is likely to cost Rs5.5-6.0bn ($130-142m), he said.

Board approval had been obtained for the project, he added.

"It is a very small project when compared with the mega methanol plants being set up in the Middle East. But it will help bridge the gap between Indian demand and supply. We also expect the biodiesel sector to create additional methanol demand in eastern India," he said.

Assam Petrochemical is also in the midst of expanding its 33,000 tonne/year methanol plant to 42,900 tonnes/year. This should take another six months to complete said the source.

Indian methanol demand is expanding at 8%/year and is expected to reach 1.1m tonnes this year while domestic capacity is only around 600,000 tonnes/year, he added.

($1 = Rs42.38)

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By: Malini Hariharan
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