The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Board has given its go-ahead for implementation of an integrated paraxylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) complex project at Paradip, Odisha, at an estimated investment of Rs 13,805 crore.
This plant, along with the upcoming mono-ethylene glycol plant of 357 kilo tpa capacity at Paradip, will be a ready source of feedstock for IndianOil’s upcoming 300 kilo tpa textile yarn manufacturing project at Bhadrak in Odisha, and can similarly facilitate other textile and polyester projects in the region.
The PX/PTA project will be completed by early 2024. The petrochemicals complex will have a PX production capacity of 8,00,000 tpa which will be the feedstock for production of PTA.
The production capacity of PTA will be 12,00,000 tpa. PTA is the raw material for the production of polyester along with MEG.
IOC’s MEG production facility is already under implementation at Paradip and will become operational towards the end of 2021.
The availability of both PTA and MEG at Paradip will give a boost to polyester manufacturing facilities in the vicinity. Also, 50,000 tpa of Toluene will be produced.
With the commissioning of both PTA and MEG projects, the Petrochemical Intensity Index of Paradip Refinery will increase to 14.7 from the present level of 4.5. PTA is a major raw material for manufacture of polyester fibre/yarn, PET bottles and polyester film used in packaging applications. PTA and MEG combined are the main feedstocks for polyester manufacture.
The Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) of Paradip, Odisha, will have both these feedstocks of world-class quality available under one roof.
The availability of Toluene, an important chemical used to produce Toluene Di- isocyanate (TDI), Chloro-Toluene, Nitro-Toluene and Cresols, would be an added advantage.
Toluene Di-isocyanate is the basic material for production of flexible polyurethane foams, adhesives, synthetic leathers and coatings, etc. IOC has already commissioned a world-class Polypropylene (PP) plant of 6,80,000 tpa capacity at a cost of Rs. 3,150 crore in February 2019.
The downstream polymer industry utilises PP to manufacture both commodity products like cement and fertiliser bags, packaging film, household furniture, etc, as well as niche products like containers for food storage, medical applications and so on.
The PX-PTA project is estimated to generate approximately five million man-days of employment over the three-year construction period with direct and indirect employment opportunities for more than 2,000 technically skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled manpower in the various areas of operations, maintenance of units and logistics for handling the product value chain.
