IndianOil has plans to build a petrochemical complex at Haldia, beginning 2012. IOC is considering setting up a paraxylene plant in the existing refinery complex. The cost and capacity estimates of the project are yet to be finalised. This will be IOC's third petrochemicals complex after the ones at Panipat and Paradip.
The paraxylene produced could be used as feedstock material in the neighbouring MCC PTA India Corporation Pvt. Ltd. - a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation for producing purified terephthalic acid (PTA). The paraxylene plant coupled with the virtually finalised plan to set up a Rs 350-crore delayed coker unit in the refinery may, however, reduce the availability of naphtha for Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL).
The delayed coker project will be finalised as soon as the company is given possession of an additional 86 acre land next to its refinery. The Union Shipping Ministry has already approved the allotment of land currently under the possession of the closed Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation (HFC) facility at Haldia and the physical handover is expected to take place shortly. Delayed coker will replace roughly 50% production of black oil (including naphtha) by petroleum coke and improve the distillate yield to over 70% from the existing 65%. The company will use a part of the reduced naphtha production for production of paraxylene and the rest is likely to make its way to HPL, also located in Haldia.
13-Nov-07 
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