Jamnagar SEZ exports to cross Rs 50,000 crore

Coming out of the shadows after facing a slump in the global petrochemicals market, Reliance Industries’ (RIL) special economic zone (SEZ) in Jamnagar is likely to emerge as one of the largest SEZs in the country.

“Reliance SEZ is expected to export goods worth at least Rs 50,000 crore by March 2010. This will be the largest in terms of exports compared with any other SEZ in the country,” Reliance Jamnagar SEZ Development Commissioner Upendra Vasishth Business Standard.

In 2008-09, exports from all SEZs in India had been pegged at Rs 99,500 crore, of which exports from SEZs in Gujarat stood at Rs 26,000 crore. This financial year, exports from all the SEZs are poised to touch Rs 1,70,000 crore, according to Vasishth. The Rs 25,000-crore Jamnagar Export Refinery Project (JERP) located in the SEZ became functional on December 25, 2008. But it became fully operational only in July this year. Exports from the refinery have already touched Rs 18,000 crore till August 31.

JERP has added nearly 20 per cent to the country’s refinery capacity and has made RIL the largest crude oil refining company in India. The refining capacity of JERP is 29 million tonnes per annum and its exports are primarily aimed at the US and European markets. The refinery produces about 31 kilo tonnes a day (ktpd) of diesel, 25 ktpd of petrol, along with sulphur, pet coke, fuel oil and naphtha.

The polypropylene plant in the SEZ also has a capacity of about a million tonnes per annum and the plant is working full throttle to cater to heavy export orders, according to company sources.

Reliance is also in the process of setting up a C2/C3 cracker unit in JERP to produce downstream products like methyl ethyl glycol (MEG), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and low-low density polyethylene (LLDP), sources said.

The global economic slowdown had hit RIL’s petrochemical business last year, forcing the company to cut 50 per cent of the production at its polypropylene plant located outside the SEZ in an export-oriented unit (EOU) facility.