In a step towards strengthening the nation’s self-reliance in terms of specialty chemicals production, bolstering India’s call for an atmanirbhar Bharat, Indian Oil Corporation has recently announced that the public sector unit will be constructing India’s first mega-scale Maleic Anhydride (MA) and 1,4 Butanediol (BDO)/Tetrahydrofuran (THF) project at Panipat. The production capacity of the project will be of 120 KTPA. The project entails a capital expenditure of INR 3681 Cr. And the project will be commissioned in 54 month time from stage 1 investment approval.

The plant is aimed at making India self-reliant in terms of MA production which is mainly imported in India and is in high demand. Therefore, the MA plant will be helping in the reduction of import dependence and will also save valuable foreign exchange of about USD 150 million per year post the production starts.

The project is set to make the Panipat refinery one of the world’s most advanced integrated chemicals and petrochemicals complex and with the addition of the MA plant, the overall Integration Index of Panipat refinery will also rise to 15%.

MAH is a colourless compound with a white crystalline flakes like appearance with strong pungent odour. The compound is soluble in acetone, ether etc. The major applications for MA include Unsaturated Polyester Resin (UPR) which are used in bathroom fixtures and automobiles. Other applications for MA are BDO and THF. MA is commercially produced by the oxidation of Benzene or Butane. The total demand for MA in India stood at around 83 KT in FY 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.83% during the upcoming years.

As per ChemAnalyst, “the proposed investment by IOCL in terms of increasing the capacity of MA and its derivatives is targeted at capturing the growing demand for MA in India which is rising due to the growing need for Unsaturated Polyester Resins. As India majorly imports the MA, with the new capacity of 120 KTPA the import dependence is expected to drop by a major amount.