Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited Restarts Methanol Plant After 6 Years of Closure

State-owned fertilizers and industrial chemicals manufacturer Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GSFC) has restarted its Methanol plant located in Vadodara city of Gujarat after remaining shut for nearly six years. The company’s 525 metric tonnes per day Methanol plant was commissioned in 2013 and ran for almost 11 months before it was shut in April 2014 due to non-viability. After nearly 6 years of complete closure, the company has decided to resume operations at the plant, eyeing on the Indian government’s constant focus on curtailing the country’s import bill. The company restarted Methanol production at its plant on 31^st August, meeting the required standards with quiet optimism, in line with gaining momentum of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s influential Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. As told by the company officials, the plant’s production capacity will reach 470 tonnes by 10^th September. With the restart of the Methanol plant, and a smooth pick-up in domestic sales, GSFC is expecting increment in its current year’s turnover by INR 150 crore. As of now there are only two domestic producers of Methanol in the Indian market- GNFC and Rashtriya Chemcials and Fertilizers Ltd. with majority (almost 80%) of the country’s demand being met through imports from the Middle eastern countries.