Deepak Fert to set up Rs 200cr IPA plant

The Rs 546 crore Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemical Corporation (DFPC) will set up India's first isopropyl alcohol (IPA) manufacturing plant at Taloja in Thane, Maharashtra.

The total capacity outlay for the 70,000 metric tonne per annum (MTPA) project is estimated to be Rs 200 crore.

DFPCL, which has signed an agreement with the US-based Equistar-Lyndell for licensing of IPA in India for seven years, expects to bring in Rs 200 crore sales during fiscal 2006-07 through the new project. The plant will be set up in the next 22 months at its Taloja complex.

IPA is extensively used by pharmaceutical companies, agrochemicals industry and also in manufacturing of inks and other components required for printing.

DFPCL also has a plant in Vadodara to manufacture products in nitrate segments under the banner Deepak Nitrate Ltd. The company will target the huge IPA market in India which is at present 100 per cent dependent on imports.

"The IPA market in the country has immense potential and the consumption is estimated to be 62,000 MTPA. The market at present is dependent on imports as there is no IPA manufacturer in the country. IPA consumption in the country is growing by seven per cent annually. The IPA project will bring in around Rs 200 crore in the first year for the company," said a company spokesperson on Tuesday.

DFPCL has signed a tie up with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd for supply of propylene from its Mumbai refinery. Propylene, which is a raw material used in the manufacturing of IPA, is in short-supply in the country.

The company has entrusted Kvaerner Powergas-India for engineering the project.

DFPCL, the integrated multi-product firm, so far has been making ammonia, methanol, nitric acid and low-density aluminium nitrate and nitro-phosphate fertilisers.

"We have made a break-through by bagging the exclusive rights for seven years for the IPA technology licensed from Equistar-Lyondell of the US. Equistar is a $12.7 billion corporation credited with licensing and selling technology and process across the chemical sector. It has so far licensed 149 plants in 35 countries across the world," said the spokesperson.

The company, which in July 2003 added 90,000 MTPA capacity at its ammonium nitrate plant, will also enhance its concentrated nitric acid (CNA) production capacity to 66,000 MTPA against 63,000 MTPA at present.

The company, which has plants in Vadodara and Raigad in Maharashtra, has recently made its foray into the real estate segment.

Its net profit in last fiscal was at Rs 64.11 crore against Rs 48.64 crore in 2001-02, which is an increase of over 31 per cent. The company expects to post a higher profit after tax by the end of the current fiscal.