Taiwan's petrochem project in India hits feedstock barrier

13 Aug '18

2 min read

Courtesy: CPC Corporation

India’s Odisha state recently assured support to Taiwan’s state-owned petroleum firm CPC Corporation, which plans to invest $6.6 billion in a petrochemical unit at Paradip. The project, however, has reportedly bumped into a hurdle as Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), which has a refinery in Paradip, has expressed reservations to supply raw material.

The assurance came from state chief minister Naveen Patnaik after he met a visiting CPC delegation led by its president Shun-Chin Lee in Bhubaneswar.

State chief secretary AP Padhi said the state government is ready to extend all assistance like land, water, electricity and incentives to CPC.

After meeting Indian petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi on July 31, the Taiwanese delegation also visited Paradip and discussed the proposed project with Paradip Port Trust (PPT) and IOCL authorities in separate meetings, according to media reports from the state.

The CPC project is dependent on a consistent supply of feedstock by the IOCL refinery unit in Paradip. But IOCL has genuine feedstock constraints is not in a position to firm up commitments for the downstream units, according to a report in a leading Indian business daily.

The potential polymer-based units at the PCPIR hub were looking at a steady supply of ethylene from IOCL’s Paradip refinery.

IOCL, however, plans to use ethylene as a feed to set up a mono ethylene glycol plant as part of its petrochemical complex. Hence, it is not in a position to spare ethylene for the downstream units as the entire quantity is expected to be consumed in the value addition process, the business daily reported. (DS)

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