Assam Petro-Chemicals Explained

Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited
Type:Public
Foundation:1971
Location City:Namrup, Assam
Location Country:India
Key People:Bikul Ch.Deka (Chairman)
Hemanta Gogoi (Vice-Chairman)
Rajnesh Gogoi (Managing Director) [1]
Industry:Chemicals
Products:Industrial chemicals
Owner:[2]

Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited is a PSU which is owned by Oil India Limited[3] and Government of Assam. It is the largest producer of Methanol and Formaldehyde in India with production capacity of 600TPD Methanol and 325TPD Formaldehyde. The company was incorporated in 1971 and by 1976 had started production at their small methanol plant located at Namrup along with formaldehyde and a few urea-formaldehyde resins like urea-formaldehyde glue and urea-formaldehyde moulding powder. Post expansion in 1989 and 1998, the company expanded the methanol plant to the capacity of 100TPD (tonnes per day) and formaldehyde plant to 100TPD.[4] The company announced in September 2017 that it would invest and expand to produce 500TPD methanol and 200TPD formalin and become the largest producer of methanol in India.[5] [6] [7] The required feedstock for these plants are natural gas, urea and carbon dioxide. Natural gas, supplied by Oil India Ltd, is used as feedstock for methanol production. Urea and carbon dioxide are supplied by BVFCL Fertilizer Plant.[8]

Methanol production

The company is among the top five producers of methanol in India; the other four being Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers & Chemicals, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers and National Fertilizers Limited.[9]

In October 2018, the company started a pilot project to use methanol as cooking gas in place of conventional liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).[10] [11] [12] The company was the first in India to offer methanol as an alternative to traditional cooking fuel. At the launch, the canisters, weighing each, were priced at each. Eighteen such canisters of methanol were equivalent to one LPG cylinder which is used for domestic cooking in India. The project was launched in support of NITI Aayog under their concept of "methanol economy" to reduce the cost of importing LPG.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Board of Directors . 12 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181015175705/http://www.assampetrochemicals.co.in/ . 15 October 2018 . live . Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited .
  2. Web site: Share Holding Pattern . 7 March 2019 . 12 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181003211552/http://www.assampetrochemicals.com/ . 3 October 2018 . live . Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited .
  3. Web site: Assam Petro-chemicals Limited bags Skoch Gold Award. 2018-12-08. The Sentinel. en-US. 2019-06-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20181209020937/https://www.sentinelassam.com/news/assam-petro-chemicals-limited-bags-skoch-gold-award/. 2018-12-09. live.
  4. Web site: Assam Petro-chemicals Limited – About us . 2015 . 12 June 2019 . live. Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited . https://web.archive.org/web/20210414025507/http://www.assampetrochemicals.com/ . 14 April 2021 .
  5. News: Assam Petrochemicals Limited to invest Rs 1337 crore to set up second unit . Economic Times . 24 September 2017 . Singh, Bikash . 12 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180929151131/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/oil-gas/assam-petrochemicals-limited-to-invest-rs-1337-crore-to-set-up-second-unit/articleshow/60818252.cms . 29 September 2018 . live .
  6. Web site: BJP respects all views: Sonowal. The Telegraph. Tejesh . Tripathy . 3 May 2019 . en. 2019-06-12. Addressing the gathering after laying the foundation stone of a formalin plant ... The Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited will supply methanol, the raw material needed to make formalin (preservative), to this plant which will produce 200 tonnes of formalin daily. The plant, for which 163 bighas has been allotted by the government at Dhaknamari, is being set up at a cost of Rs 100 crore. .
  7. Web site: India's first methanol cooking fuel debuts in Assam . The Hindu . 5 October 2018 . 18 June 2019 . Karamakar, Rahul.
  8. Book: The Anatomy of Rural Poverty in Assam . Mittal Publications . Atikuddin Ahmed . 1987 . 29 . 8170990092.
  9. Web site: India's Leapfrog to Methanol Economy . NITI Aayog . 13 June 2019 . Dr. Saraswat, V. K. . V. K. Saraswat . 5.
  10. Web site: Assam Petrochemicals Ltd to roll out country's first methanol-based cooking fuel . Times of India . 28 September 2018 . 13 June 2019 . Kalita, Prabin . https://web.archive.org/web/20180929160654/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/assam-petrochemicals-ltd-to-roll-out-countrys-first-methanol-based-cooking-fuel/articleshow/65998726.cms . 29 September 2018 . live .
  11. Web site: Pilot project on methanol as cooking gas launched at Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) . The Sentinel . 6 October 2018 . 13 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181006083007/https://www.sentinelassam.com/news/pilot-project-on-methanol-as-cooking-gas-launched-at-assam-petrochemicals-limited-apl/ . 6 October 2018 . live .
  12. Web site: Launch of Methanol Cooking Fuel Program of India . Government of India . Press Information Bureau . 5 October 2018 . 13 June 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190314192225/http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=183996 . 14 March 2019 . live .