Reliance to position Nocil as a speciality unit

Reliance Industries (RIL) is planning to transform the newly acquired Nocil into a super speciality company.

While announcing RIL's quarter results ending December 2003, Anil Ambani, vice chairman and managing director, said, "Nocil had earlier working capital problems and did not have capacity to boost its capacity utilisation. Now there are no such constraints. At one level, we intend to ramp up the capacity utilisation to full and on the other we will look at what speciality products it can offer ."

Answering a query on any merger plans for Nocil with RIL, Ambani categorically pointed out that it is unlikely to be merged and cited examples that it had earlier acquired several polyester units which continue as separate companies and which now produce speciality products.

Reliance Industries has recently reached an agreement to buy out Arvind Mafatlal group's Nocil's petrochemicals and plastic business through its business associate Sunbright Cement Agencies Pvt Ltd.