Reliance Industries (RIL) will sign an agreement with the Russian petrochemical company, SIBUR to set up a butyl rubber manufacturing plant in Gujarat. The deal will be signed during the upcoming visit of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to India. He is scheduled to land in the country tomorrow.
Evgeny Griva, the CEO of SIBUR Petrochemical India, said, “For the petrochemicals sector, bilateral cooperation between Russia and India will be very beneficial. India’s petrochemical industry is already fast growing, but there is increased scope for further growth as oil and gas processing companies look at monetising by-products of oil and gas production. This is exemplified by SIBUR and Reliance’s construction of a butyl rubber manufacturing plant in Jamnagar. The model in this will be of strategic cooperation wherein Reliance’s oil refinery will provide the raw materials for production and SIBUR will give the technology.”
Reliance’s Vadodara Plant
Reliance Industries has a manufacturing plant in Vadodara, Gujarat. It has 15 downstream plants for the manufacture of polymers, fibres and other chemicals. It has a polybutadiene rubber (PBR) plant I set up in 1979 and plant II started in 1996. These plants produce 80,000 tonnes of PBR every year.
India’s PBR demand is around 160,000 tonnes, every year. Of this, only half is met by the only PBR plant in the country. With the new deal, the Mukesh Ambani firm wants to reach a target of producing 120,000 tonnes of PBR in the same state and lessen the burden of imports. The demand of PBR in India is also predicted to grow at a rate of 6.4% every year.
Reliance Industries and SIBUR
Reliance Industries is India’s largest private sector company and SIBUR is the largest gas processing industry in Russia and a leader in petrochemicals business. The two companies had earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2010 and formed a joint venture in February, 2012 aimed to produce 100,000 tonnes of butyl rubber at Jamnagar. The construction of the same began in February, 2013. The joint venture is known as Reliance SIBUR Elastomers Private Limited (RSEPL). Reliance owns 74.9% of the joint venture while SIBUR owns the remaining 25.1%.
India’s scenario
India ranks fourth among the largest consumers of elastomers, which is a type of polymer. The largest consumer is China, followed by the United States of America and then Japan. The demand of elastomers has remained more or less constant in America. But it is growing rapidly in developing countries like India and China. After thorough research, the market analysts have said that in India, the demand for synthetic rubber has increased more than double over the last few years.
Due to the growing demand, India is witnessing innumerable tenders for new petrochemical processing technology. This is held by major public sector units like ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited) and GAIL (Gas Authority of India Limited). Griva added, “Demand for products is growing as the industry is developing, and India will soon need to increase its imports.”
Summary
Reliance Industries is all set to join hands with Russia’s petrochemical company SIBUR to set up a rubber plant in Gujarat and meet India’s growing PRB demands.