In what is billed as the single largest investment by a state PSU in recent times, Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) will invest close to Rs 1337 Crore to set up second unit for producing methanol and Formalin.
The new plant in Namrup in Upper Assam will produce 500 tonnes per day (TPD) Methanol and 200 TPD Formalin. With these the overall capacity of APL will be augmented to 600 TPD of Methanol and 325 TPD of Formalin.
Chairman of APL, Jagdish Bhuyan told ET, “This will be the single largest investment by a state PSU in recent times, we will commission the unit by April 2019. Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal will lay foundation stone for the project next month. “
APL started production around four decades back with capital investment of Rs 9 Crore.
Bhuyan said, “There is huge demand for our product and presently our buyers are spread across Northeast India, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh besides foreign countries including Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.”
He said that presently India is producing just 25 percent of Methanol requirement and rest is imported from Middle East. “Our initiative will contribute to make in India initiative. Besides new employment avenues this new project will trigger growth of downstream industries.”
