Nayara’s PP Unit with capacity 450 KTPA to Commission in 2024 in Gujarat, India, PO Derivatives Plant on Hold as of Now

Indian petrochemical major Nayara Energy Limited is about to enter Polypropylene (PP) business segment. This will be a major breakthrough and will further strengthen the market dynamics for Polypropylene in India. As a part of its expansion plan at 20 MMTPA Vadinar Refinery in Gujarat, Nayara Energy Ltd. is all set to construct one Polypropylene unit which will be using Propylene as feedstock from its FCC unit.

Nayara Energy Ltd plans to set up a PP unit with production capacity of 450 KTPA. Following will be achieved by revamping its existing FCC unit and Unsat LPG Treating unit and Propylene Recovery Unit (PRU). This project has been named as “Asset Development Project-1 (ADP-1) of Nayara Energy”, and the PP unit is likely to begin production in early 2024 subjected to no technical, operational, and managerial setbacks.

Nayara has already acquired the technology for production of all Polypropylene (PP) grades and licensed Unipol Polypropylene process technology from W.R Grace & Co in 2019. The Polypropylene unit has been the part of its elaborate expansion plan with an investment of around USD 850 million. Earlier, the talks of Propylene Oxide (PO) and its derivative business ran high with a Polyol unit to be part of the expansion plan. Even, the company sought environment clearance for 200 KTPA Propylene Oxide (PO), Propylene Glycol & Polyols unit in 2018. However, after strategic analysis, the talks lose steam and as of now, PO and its derivative business segment is on hold and the commissioning of Polyol plant has been deferred indefinitely.

The news of non-progression of Nayara’s PO/Polyol project has raised the sentiments of the competing players in the domestic polyol market like BPCL who is planning to come up with the Polyol capacity worth 250 KT by 2025. As per ChemAnalyst Market Analysis, India’s Polyol demand currently stands around 261 KT and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 7.09% in the forecast period. Looking at the strong market prospects, several polyol (base and blended system house) manufacturers across the globe are looking to expand their market presence in India.