CEW
Project Update New Contracts/Expansions/Revamps
The following list is a brief insight into the latest new projects by various companies in India.
CHEMICALS NOCIL Ltd has commissioned the Phase 1 of expansion of capacities of rubber chemicals and their intermediates at Navi Mumbai, The aforementioned CAPEX programme had been approved by the Board of Directors at its Meeting held on 16th March 2017. Tata Chemicals has completed the acquisition of the silica business of Allied Silica for `123-crore. The company entered into a business transfer agreement to acquire Allied Silica’s precipitated silica business on a slump sale basis. The deal was part of the ` 295-crore investment approved by the Board in February 2017, towards this specialty business. The acquisition includes a manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, which will produce highly dispersible silica. The specialty chemical product represents a downstream value addition to Tata Chemicals soda ash business, where it ranks among the top manufacturers globally. R Mukundan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals, said the next focus would be to enhance the operational readiness of the plant to maximise throughput of product portfolio, while meeting the requisite safety and quality specifications. Precipitated silica is a versatile product with applications in many industries including rubber, oral care, coatings and agrochemicals. The acquisition also offers the possibility to make value added silica for applications that demand high performance. Insecticides (India) Ltd has announced a ` 200-crore expansion plan to increase its capacity in the next three years. In the first two years, it would spend about `100-crore, followed by an investment of ` 100-crore in 2020. The firm is planning to set up an Export Oriented Unit in Gujarat with an eye on increasing export component of the business. Exports contributed about ` 35-crore in the total turnover of ` 1,109-crore in 2017-18. The firm has a share of about 5 per cent in the ` 18,000-crore crop protection market in the country. Shalimar Paints lays down the foundation of its Nashik manufacturing plant with a planned monthly production capacity of 2,180-kilolitres. Shalimar's state-of-the-art Nashik facility will increase the brand's overall production capacity by 65 per cent. The newest Shalimar plant hints at the brand's aggressive push to capitalise on the growing market demand for its high-quality, high-performance paint and coating products, as well as to further consolidate its position as one of the fastest growing paints companies in the country. Shalimar has also pledged further investment into its Nashik plant and aims to establish it as a key component within its regional distribution network, as well as its pan-India supply chain. The paint industry has been growing at a rapid rate in India and measures between 1.5 to 2 times GDP growths. Rapid urbanization, better transparency and consumer evolvement has been leading the growth of the industry. Songwon Industrial Co Ltd a specialty chemicals company of South Korea has launched its new pilot plant in Panoli (Gujarat), thereby strengthening the organisation’s overall specialty chemicals 64 • November 2019
development capability. Built on Songwon’s Indian site with all the necessary main unit operations, the new plant is equipped with the most up-to-date technologies and materials for producing a wide range of chemicals for a broad spectrum of applications - from one kilo up to several hundred kilo samples. To reinforce the organisation’s position in existing areas of business and enhance its ability to enter new areas, the new pilot plant will be supported by the Songwon’s strong local R&D team in Panoli, as well as its central technology innovation center located in Maeam, Korea.
MINING Coal India Ltd (CIL) had supplied in 2018-19, 491.54-million tonnes (MT) coal to power plants which was 8.2 per cent more than the coal supplied in 2017-18. Singareni Collieries Co Ltd (SCCL) supplied 55.3-MT coal to power plants in 2018-19 which was a growth of 3.6 per cent over the same period of previous year. This has led to creation of a coal stock of 30.95-MT at the power plants as on 31st March 2019 which was sufficient for 18 days requirement. In 2018-19, the power plants of Tangedco have supplied 23.26-MT coal from CIL with a growth of 3.5 per cent over the supply of 22.49-MT in 2017-18. As on 16th June 2019, Tamil Nadu power plants have coal stock of 9.67-lakh tonne which is sufficient for 12 days requirement. At present, no power plant in Tamil Nadu is in critical/super critical category. Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL), on 2nd February, 2019, held a ground-breaking ceremony at Ghatsila Unit of HCL for construction of concentrator plant at Rakha, initiating Chapri-Sidheswar mine, a new mine development and Rakha mine re-opening projects. CMD informed that considering the opportunity to further increase the resource base of copper mineral in the State has finalized plan to undertake depth exploration up to 1,000-meter from surface in its existing lease area in next two years. HCL, in its Unit located at Ghatsila planned to implement total five mine expansion projects to increase the mine capacity from current 4.0 to 72.0-lakh tonne. Successful implementation of the project will also reduce country's dependence on imported copper concentrate. Singareni Collieries Co Ltd (SCCL) has received a boost for its plans of increasing the coal production to 70-million tonnes in 2019-20 by getting the green nod for Kistaram open cast mine recently after suffering some setbacks in getting environmental clearance for its proposed new mines and expansion of existing ones earlier this year. The coal company has achieved a production of 64.4-million tonnes in 2018-19 and getting the environmental clearance for Kistaram open cast mine, with a capacity of 2-million tonnes per annum (MTPA), in Sathupalli mandal of Khammam district is expected to go a long way in its plans to jack up the production by nearly 6-million tonnes. The green nod to the proposal has come three years after public hearing conducted on it. According to SCCL officials, a committee of experts in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) that has gone through the proposal has recommended clearance to
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