MUMBAI (ICIS)--India’s state-owned Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) expects its two new polypropylene (PP) plants with a combined capacity of 560,000 tonnes/year by the second quarter of 2025, a company source said on Tuesday.
The 60,000 tonne/year PP line in the northern Uttar Pradesh state will come on stream in January 2024, while the 500,000 tonne/year plant in the western Maharashtra state is scheduled to start up by April 2025, the source said.
The one in Maharashtra has an upstream 500,000 tonne/year propane dehydrogenation unit (PDH) that will provide propylene feedstock to the plant.
“Work on both projects is ongoing and we expect to bring them online within the stipulated timeframe,” the company source said.
GAIL currently operates a 200,000 tonnes/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant, two linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE)/HDPE swing plants with capacities of 230,000 tonnes/year and 400,000 tonnes/year, and a 10,000 tonnes/year butene-1 line at its Pata complex.
Additionally, GAIL plans to invest Indian rupees (Rs) 2.3bn ($41m) to build a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen at Guna in central Madhya Pradesh state.
The project, which is expected to produce 4.3 tonnes/day of green hydrogen, will become operational by November 2023, the source said.
“We intend to increase the production of green hydrogen by 2030 once the government policies regarding hydrogen become clear,” he added.
The plans to scale up green hydrogen production will depend upon government policies regarding mandatory use of hydrogen in industry, the source said.
In February, the Indian government announced its green hydrogen policy which is expected to provide a boost to green hydrogen production in the country.
The government now plans to launch a comprehensive green hydrogen mission which could make it mandatory for fertilizer, refining and petrochemical firms to use green hydrogen in their operations, according to media reports.
($1 = Rs78.96)