BPCL To Build Polypropylene Unit At Kochi Refinery For Rs 5,044 Crore

Bharat Petroleum Corp. will set up a polypropylene production unit at its Kochi refinery at a project cost of Rs 5,044 crore.

The unit will have a production capacity of 400 kilo tonne per annum of polypropylene—a thermoplastic polymer.

The company will finance the project at a debt-equity ratio of 65:35, according to an exchange filing on Tuesday.

Polypropylene has wide applications in downstream industries, such as packaging films, sheet, boxes, containers, bags, homeware, home care, personal care and articles of day-to-day usage.

BPCL said robust growth due to expanding market demand of the petrochemical segment in India and availability of propylene feedstock will provide its Kochi plant the opportunity to produce the plastic compound.

The Kochi refinery in Kerala is one of three presently having a crude oil refining capacity of 15.5 million metric tonne per annum.

It produces liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, motor spirit, kerosene, aviation turbine fuel, high speed diesel and asphalt, as well as various specialty products.

Shares of BPCL closed 0.51% higher at Rs 449.20 apiece, ahead of the announcement on Tuesday, as compared with a 0.17% advance in the BSE Sensex.