INDIA'S DOWNSTREAM EXPANSION CONTINUING

India's downstream expansion continues.

India has commissioned its first gas cracker complex, a $925 million project built by Indian Petrochemicals Corp. Ltd. in Nagathone, Maharashtra.

Separately, India's government is pursuing development of another gas cracker complex, this time to utilize surplus gas in Assam state. Indian Prime Minister M.S. Gurupadaswamy has called for expedited permitting of the project to help promote economic development in the civil strife-torn state.

In other Indian downstream action:

Indian Oil Corp. plans to install a propylene unit and a 900 b/d catalytic reformer at its Mathura refinery in Uttar Pradesh. The propylene unit will yield 24,000 metric tons/year of propylene and 500 tons/year of isobutylene. The project has been approved, contingent upon steps to ensure the nearby Taj Mahal landmark won't be affected by an increase in air emissions from the refinery.
Gurupadaswamy said the government will decide whether to proceed with proposed refineries at Karnal in Haryana, Mangalore in Karnataka, and Gulaghat in Assam (OGJ, June 18, p. 28).
The government soon will move on whether to approve the proposed 120,000 b/d Daitari refinery at Orissa, Gurupadaswamy said. The government recently asked Bharat Petroleum Corp. to conduct a second feasibility study of the project. It earlier asked Indian Oil Corp. for a Daitari feasibility study.

MAHARASHTRA COMPLEX

The Maharashtra complex will produce 275,000 metric tons/year of low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, and propylene, 50,000 tons/year of methyl ethyl glycol, and 25,000 tons/year of wire and cable compounds.

Feedstock will be 450,000 metric tons/year of ethane/propane mix from Oil & Natural Gas Commission at Uran and 51,000 tons/year of propane/propylene mix from Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.'s Bombay refinery.

The complex is intended to back out imports of feedstocks for plastics, resulting in a foreign exchange savings of $240 million/year.

Special attention was given to environmental concerns in building the complex. It incorporates a wastewater treatment plant, air quality maintenance program, and adoption of the latest techniques in risk analysis/management. In addition, IPCL created a 370 acre greenbelt around the complex.