L&T’s Hazira Unit Receives a Nod for the Delivery of Critical Plant Equipment for IOC's Paradip MEG Project

The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural gas has recently inaugurated the indigenously manufactured critical components of the engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T's) Hazira plant in Surat.

The equipment will be used in Indian Oil's MEG (mono-ethylene glycol) plant, soon to be commissioned at the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Paradip in Odisha.

The personnel mentioned in one of his tweets that the delivery of Ethylene Oxide reactor, Wash Tower and De-ethylenizer columns which have been fabricated in-house at L&T's manufacturing facilities will be a significant progress towards commissioning the MEG project at IOC’s Paradip refinery which is aimed at reducing India’s MEG imports and improve its competitiveness in the domestic petchem market.

The company’s 357 KTPA MEG plant is being setup with an investment of INR 5,654 crore and is slated to be commissioned in October 2021. Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG) is largely used as a feedstock for the production of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polyester Staple Fibre (PSF), Polyester Filament Yarn (PFY), and other similar products. It is also used as an industrial coolant and antifreeze heat transfer agent and added in the radiators of vehicles.

With its new MEG capacity on cards, Indian Oil is optimistic that the product would be a ready source of feedstock for the company’s upcoming 300 KTPA textile yarn manufacturing project at Bhadrak in Odisha and would facilitate the generation of nearly 14,000 job opportunities in Bhadrak and Dhamra districts of Odisha, where the state government has proposed to establish a full-fledged Textile Park.

As per ChemAnalyst market estimates, the Indian MEG demand volume stood at 1780 KT in 2020 and with Indian government’s strong Make in India initiative, the market is estimated to grow tremendously in the coming years. Despite being strongly hurt by the pandemic woes, the market prospects are gradually turning positive post the rollout of the government’s special INR 10,000 crore package to aid the growth of the Indian textile industry.