Manali Petro to invest Rs 100 cr in expansion

Manali Petrochemicals Ltd (MPL) is planning to invest around Rs 100 crore to raise its polyols manufacturing capacity three-fold to 150,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) from the existing 50,000 tpa.

The proposed expansion, over a period of five years, would help MPL consolidate its market position, and to meet the growing demand for its products. MPL said it had received necessary approvals for taking up the expansion.

The company planned to add 25,000 mt capacity every fiscal, with the Phase-I expansion to be completed by March 2016. Capacity augmentation at each leg would result in an incremental turnover of Rs 280-300 crore to the company.

Ashwin C Muthiah, chairman, Manali Petro, said the move would give them significant scale and ability to further penetrate the market.

"The expansion is in line with our endeavor to serve our growing customer base with better products and to provide superior customer experience and service," he said.

The annual polyol demand in India is estimated to be around 500,000 million tonne (mt), in a market dominated by transnational petrochemical companies like Dow, Shell, Bayer, BASF and Huntsman.

The capacity addition would allow MPL produce cost-effective propylene oxide (PO) used in the manufacture of polyurethane foams (PU), which is extensively utilised in the automotive, construction, refrigeration sector.

MPL, part of Ashwin Muthiah International, is one of the leading manufacturer of industrial raw materials--propylene oxide/propylene glycol (PO / PG) and polyols.