Grasim, Lubrizol to begin work on Vilayat CPVC resin plant by end of 2023

Grasim Industries, the flagship firm of the Aditya Birla Group, will start work on a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin-manufacturing plant with Lubrizol India Limited in the later part of 2023, it said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

This will be the world's largest single-site CPVC plant, producing 100,000 metric tons (MT) of resin. CPVC is a thermoplastic material essential for many industries, used in water delivery pipes and industrial liquid handling.

"Both the company and Lubrizol now reaffirm that the construction of the first phase of the world's largest single-site state-of-the-art 100,000 metric tonne CPVC resin facility in Vilayat, Gujarat, will commence in the later part of the year 2023," the company said.

"The project implementation plan is under finalisation, and we will share the further developments including commissioning timelines in due course," it added.

The plant will be part of the chloralkali unit of Grasim, located at Vilayat, Gujarat, which will provide the additional benefit of captive chlorine integration.

On October 30, 2020, the two companies announced the plans to launch the initial phase of the plant in 2022, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"To further support the local market, Lubrizol will make additional investments in the coming years to expand its existing CPVC compound plant in Dahej, Gujarat and establish a local innovation centre as demand continues to grow," US-based Lubrizol had then said.

Lubrizol, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathway Inc, is the inventor and largest manufacturer of CPVC resin and CPVC compounds globally.

With this investment to supply resin to its existing compounding plant in Dahej, Gujarat, Lubrizol will become the only company in India with end-to-end CPVC capability.