RPG Group plans India's biggest carbon black plant

RPG Group company Phillips Carbon Black Ltd (PCBL) plans to set up India’s largest carbon black facility in south India. It is in talks with the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments.

PCBL, the country’s largest carbon black producer, has four facilities in the country with a combined capacity of 360,000 tonnes. It also has a planned establishment in Vietnam.

“We are talking to both the state governments, and hopefully the land allotment will be finalised in the next 15 days. We will need about 40 acres and this could eventually be the biggest carbon black plant in India,” said PCBL Chairman Sanjiv Goenka.

Although Goenka was reluctant to divulge the details of the proposed plant, he said it would have a higher production capacity than its existing facilities. The company’s Durgapur plant produces about 140,000 tonnes per annum and the plant at Mundra is expected to contribute a similar volume.

Goenka stopped short of elaborating on the cost of the proposed plant saying that the company planned to spend an overall Rs 1,250 crore over the next three years.

Goenka said PCBL’s Vietnam venture is ready to take of . “We have got all the approvals to start this overseas project. The first phase would have a capacity of 50,000 tonnes at about Rs 350 crore. Since the demand is high, we are planning to expand it to one lakh tonnes in the second phase.