Underscoring the strategic importance it attaches to the Indian market, global petrochemical producer Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) is investing heavily in one of its manufacturing facilities there. IVL subsidiary Indo Rama Synthetics (India) Limited will spend up to INR 6 billion (€67 million) to upgrade the equipment and to add new capacity at its manufacturing site in Nagpur, India.
The capital expenditure plan includes a new PET resin manufacturing facility, additional balancing equipment, and a large range of specialty yarns. The investment will further strengthen the company’s ability to serve customers in this local market. India is the second-largest polyester market in the world after China with consumption growing at about 7.0% per annum, with a population of 1.2 billion.
IVL is present in India with all three of its global integrated business segments – Combine PET, Fibers, and Integrated Oxides and Derivatives (IOD). It first established a foothold in India in 2015, with the acquisition of PET producer Micro Polypet, located in Northern India. Since 2016, IVL has operated its Indian PET business through IVL Dhunseri Petrochem Industries (IDPIPL), a 50/50 joint venture between IVL and Dhunseri Ventures Limited - formerly Dhunseri Petrochem Limited - with two PET resin plants in Haldia and another in Karnal. Micro Polypet was merged into the joint venture in December 2017, after which IDPIPL became one of the largest PET resin producers in India.
The plant at Nagpur, which IVL has managed since 2019, is also the company’s first fiber manufacturing site in India, offering a wide range of staple fibers and filament yarns.
The new PET resin facility there will add 700 tons of capacity per day and is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2022. This will bring the plant’s total capacity to over one million tons annually.
Under the investment plan, it will meet global brands’ increasing demand for more high-quality and sustainable textile products.