Page 62 - Plastics News January 2018

Business news

Bengal upbeat on Plastics Essar group eyesRS 600-Cr

turnover from CBM in FY19
engal is set to attract Rs 1,000-crore investment
Bin plastic processing over the next 12 months. The
investment is spread over multiple units which are in the he Essar Group expects turnover from coal bed
process of being set up, Alok Tibrewala, president of the Tmethane (CBM) to touch Rs 600 crore in 2018-19
Indian Plastic Federation, said. The units would be ready and double that in the subsequent two years, according
for production within a year, he added. The federation is to Vilas Tawde, chief executive officer of Essar Oil and
also trying to facilitate the setting up of 2-3 plastic parks Gas Exploration and Production. The group’s CBM assets
in the state to help the small processors. They will add include five blocks that hold an estimated 10 trillion
to the investment tally if and when the new units come cubic feet of coal bed methane spread over 2,700 sq km
up in these parks. across West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh and Odisha. Of these, the one in West Bengal
"We are looking to find suitable land on the NH-6 or the is operational.

The company has already invested about Rs 4,000 crore
in setting up supply infrastructure and drilling 348 wells.
Plans include drilling another 152 wells over the next
two years, which would require about Rs 900 crore
more. According to reports Matix Fertilisers in Durgapur
will purchase its full capacity production of 2.2 million
standard cubic meters per day as and when the fertiliser
company scales up production. Matix has commenced
northern fringes of Calcutta. The parks should be close production at its facility and we have started supplying
to Calcutta as small processors have to visit the units them around 1 million standard cubic meters per day
every day," Tibrewala said. After the implementation of of CBM. This will gradually be scaled up to 2.2 million
the GST, processing plastic has become remunerative in standard cubic when Matix attains full production.
Bengal as the indirect tax reform has abolished several Essar also plans to start shale gas production at the
state levies. "Earlier, it was not competitive to procure raw Bengal block and is waiting for policy announcement
material from outside and then sell there too. Now, we on simultaneous production of CBM and shale gas from
are on a level-playing field. Plus, manufacturers (Haldia one block. Production of CBM results in a lot of water
Petrochemicals, GAIL, Reliance, Indian Oil) are selling being released, which can be used for extracting
polymer grains at port-based prices. Hence, all processors shale gas that requires lots of water for extraction.
are paying the same," he explained, after announcing A study undertaken with the support of US Trade &
Indplas 18, an international exhibition on plastic to be
held in November this year. Ashok Jajodia, chairman of
Indplas, said 500 participants, including 100 overseas firms
mainly from China and Taiwan, are expected to attend.
"We are expecting brisk business at the event," he said.
At the inaugural session of the fourth Bengal Global
Business Summit, industry captains made an investment
pledge of around Rs 17,000 crore to the Mamata
government. Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh
Ambani was the first to announce his company’s plans for
the state. Reliance plans to manufacture mobile phones Development Agency (USTDA) has indicated a reserve
and set-top boxes in Bengal and also invest Rs 5,000 crore of 8 trillion cubic feet of shale gas underneath the
in non-Jio businesses across the state in the next three coal bed methane reserve in the Raniganj block. The
years. Ambani said Reliance has already invested Rs 15,000 report says recoverable resource could be to the tune
crore in Bengal in the last two years. 1.5 trillion cubic feet.

Plastics News Januar y 2018 62