Pitching the idea of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ to reduce country’s import reliance for several commodities, India’s Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a number of development projects in Kochi, Kerala on his brief visit to the state on Sunday, 14^th February.

One of the key highlights of the event included the inauguration of INR 60 billion petrochemical complex of the state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). The Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP) was scheduled to start up in October 2019, but commissioning was delayed due to pandemic related uncertainties. The project located close to BPCL’s Kochi Refinery will facilitate the production of Acrylic Acid, Oxo-Alcohol and Acrylates, which are imported in huge volumes in the country. The technology of the project has been sourced from Germany, Japan and the UK and is said to possess installed capacities of 160,000 tonne per annum Acrylic Acid and 212,000 tonne per annum of oxo-alcohols and acrylates. As per the market sources, BPCL’s Kochi refinery produces 500,000 tonnes per annum of Propylene, half of which will serve as a feedstock in the PDPP unit while the remaining will be directed towards a proposed Polypropylene (PP) facility.

The PM stated that the new petrochemical complex will save around INR 40 billion foreign exchange and would support in curtailing India’s import bill in addition to serving a wide range of industries and providing employment opportunities to a number of people in the country. The manufactured products will enable the country to meet its raw material requirements for the production of paints, adhesives, water treatment chemicals and super absorbent polymer (SAP) used in diapers and construction industry.

As per ChemAnalyst, India’s Acrylic Acid demand is anticipated to cross 114 KT by FY26 with western and northern India being the major demand centers. Looking at the growing usage of Acrylic Acid derivatives in a plethora of end-use applications, the petrochemical players of India are drawing capex plans to gain entry in such niche segments.

India’s leading oil refiner Indian Oil (IOC) has also planned to foray into manufacturing of Acrylic Acid/Acrylates near its Gujarat Refinery. The facility will have the Acrylic Acid installed capacity of 90,000 tonne per annum while the new Butyl Acrylate Unit will have a capacity of 150,000 tonne per annum. The project is expected to take at least 26 months for mechanical completion with Tecnimont Private Limited as its EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) provider.