Guj PSUs to source raw materials from petro cos for Rs 10k cr project

A consortium of Gujarat government promoted Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (GACL), Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals (GSFC) and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizer Company (GNFC) is weighing various options to source raw material from petroleum companies for its ambitious chemical project at Dahej in the state.

All the three public enterprises have formed a joint venture to float a new unit at Dahej.

Around Rs. 10,000 crore are planned to be infused for the proposed projects, which will be set up to manufacture various downstream products such as phenol, bisphenol and polycarbonate for use in synthetic rubber, PVC and ethylene dichloride industries.

A blue print of the project has already been prepared and the consortium is currently looking at establishing a reliable supply source for raw materials.

"The unit will require basic raw material such as ethylene, propylene. The company is mulling to approach two to three petroleum companies", said a top official of GACL

"The consortium may start a dialogue with petroleum giants such as Reliance, Essar and ONGC for procuring raw material for the project", the official added.

It may be mentioned here that GACL along with GSFC and GNFC had signed a mamorandum of understanding (MoU) during Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit-2009 held in January.

"Fresh recruitments will be done to meet the man power requirement of the project. At present, various details pertaining to the projects such as production capacity, man power requirement, raw material supply and so on are being given final touches", the official added.