6 minute read
REEP HAZARIKA
Reep Hazarika, MD, Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Limited shares his insights on key learnings, achievements, revenue and profit performance, market share increase, agreement with GAIL, Capex plans and business outlook. Excerpts of the interview:
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MD, BRAHMAPUTRA CRACKER & POLYMER LIMITED (BCPL)
Key learnings for BCPL during
COVID-19?
For the petrochemical industry, what we learnt was to sustain our growth and existence even under stressed conditions.
The pandemic highlighted the true value of the internet and IT infrastructure that worked seamlessly to ensure business continuity. with the process licensors for capacity enhancement. We are also setting up two value addition plants - Butene-1 and HPG (2nd stage) at Dibrugarh.
Company’s revenue and profit performance during FY 2020-21 and forecast for FY 2021-22?
The performance during FY 2020-21 has been encouraging despite COVID-19 related constraints. In terms of revenue, we have seen a sustained upward trend of polymer prices coupled with the low gas price during the year. We expect the same trend to continue during FY 2021-22. An increasing trend of polymer prices and reduced gas price will be the growth drivers in FY 2021-22.
BCPL’s group refining/processing capacity per annum and what’s your share nationally? Plans to increase market share?
BCPL’s annual production capacity is 2.8 lakh tonnes of polymer. It is around 2 per cent of the national share however BCPL has the largest petrochemical plant in the Northeast and holds a market share of more than 90 per cent in the North-Eastern region. We are planning to enhance our production capacity by 20 per cent through de-bottlenecking in the next two years. We are also exploring the option of doubling our production capacity and product diversification based on the additional availability of feedstock in the NER. For that, we are in discussion with the oil and gas players in the region to ascertain the feedstock availability in the coming years.
Key milestones achieved by BCPL in FY 2020-21 and plans for FY 2021-22?
During FY 2020-21, the company has been successful in ensuring stable and sustained operation of the plant despite COVID-19 related challenges with skeletal manpower and complying with all the guidelines and protocols of the government. The plant is operating at more than 100 per cent capacity despite the challenges emerging out of COVID-19 related 90% disruptions and economic slowdown. The company has been recognised both in the national and international plat“BCPL is the largest petrochemical plant in Northeast and holds a market share of more than 90% in the North-Eastern region” forms for its performance towards workplace culture, busi- As a part of Hydrocarbon ness ethics, environment, health & safe- Vision 2030 for North East India, ty and corporate social responsibility. what role will BCPL play in increasing For FY 2021-22, our focus will be feedstocks to boost the polymer busion enhancing our production capacity ness? and maximizing sales in the North-East- Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 will open the ern region. We are in active discussion doors of opportunities for BCPL. The
Northeast pipeline grid – Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) will make additional gas available for us in the future to facilitate our expansion. Expansion of the plant will increase our market share and margins. The national per capita consumption of plastic is approximately 11 kgs whereas per capita consumption in the Northeastern region is still limited to approximately 4 kgs. This deficit will bring more opportunities for plastic industries in the NE region.
Expansion of the plant will spawn huge potential for entrepreneurial endeavours in the region through the setting up of plastic processing units utilising BCPL’s products. The Government of Assam is also supporting this endeavour by setting up a Plastic Park at Tinsukia which will boost polymer consumption and attract investors. This would not only give an economic boost to this region but will also generate employment opportunities. Apart from incentivising the new entrepreneurs operating in the North East, we are also making cohesive efforts to assure a timely and continuous supply of raw materials, technical
support and guidance to the interested entrepreneurs. feed (Gas and Naphtha) cracker unit and fluidized bed polymerization reactor for our LLDPE/HDPE swing unit and continuously stirred gas phased polymerization reactor for our Polypropylene unit. The technology providers are - Lummus Technologies, USA for Cracker unit, INEOS, UK for LLDPE/HDPE Swing unit and Lummus Novolen, Germany for the Polypropylene Unit. BCPL is also working towards debottlenecking of the plant which shall further improve the production capacity. We have also initiated dialogue with natural gas producers in this region for enabling additional gas infusion for capacity enhancement. We plan to scale up our capacity by 20 per cent within the next two years and double our capacity in the next five years.
LLDPE/HDPE Swing unit at BCPL’s
Petrochemical Complex produces 2,20,000 TPA of polymer grade Ethylene and 60,000 TPA of polymer grade of Propylene. How much does it contribute to the national requirement?
In the case of polyethylene, BCPL produces mainly LLDPE film grade poly-
Annual processing capacity of
BCPL’s Petrochemical Complex at Lepetkata in Assam?
Our plant at Lepetkata, Dibrugarh has an annual production capacity of 2.8 lakh tonnes of Polymer. We have a dual mers which are marketed all over India. Polypropylene is marketed in the eastern part of India, mainly the North Eastern Region.
How much is the annual processing capacity of Gas dehydration and compressor at GDU Duliajan?
The gas processing capacity of Gas dehydration and compressor at GDU Duliajan is 6.0 MMSCM per day. It is a glycol-based dehydration unit designed by Engineers India Limited. We have already initiated dialogue with natural gas producers for enabling additional gas infusion for processing in our Duliajan unit.
How much is the annual processing capacity of Lakwa Natural Gas Sweetening Unit Cum C2+ Hydrocarbon Recovery Unit?
The capacity of Lakwa Natural Gas Sweetening Unit Cum C2+ Hydrocarbon Recovery Unit is 1.0 MMSCM per day. The unit is designed by Engineers India Limited. The sweetening process involves a solvent media for removing CO2 from natural gas and C2+ hydrocarbon recovery is done by cryogenic separation. In January 2021, BCPL signed an MoU with Assam Gas Company for the supply of rich gas from Golaghat to the BCPL Lakwa unit through a dedicated pipeline.
Capex invested in FY 2020-21 and what is the plan for FY 2021-22? Plans related to automation and digitalization?
The Capex for this financial year is essentially towards the two new value addition plants which BCPL is undertaking. The operation of the plant is fully automated. BCPL is well equipped with Yokogawa supplied distributed control systems (DCS) for automated control and operation of the plant. The systems are also being upgraded as per the requirement from time to time. The company has also implemented SAP for day to day business requirements. BCPL is on the move to create a paperless culture in the organization.
What is the future business outlook for the company in FY 2021-22?
The future business outlook looks very positive. BCPL plans to scale up its production capacity and penetrate new areas in marketing and also further progress on exporting polymers to neighbouring countries.
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