Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) Petrochemical Complex, a flagship project of Assam, and Numaligarh Refinery Limited’s Wax Plant last week.

Set up with an investment of approx. Rs. 10,000 crores, the BCPL plant will have the capacity to manufacture 2,80,000 tonnes per annum of polymer products which will result in the growth of new downstream plastic processing industries in the North Eastern region, besides reducing dependency on polymer supply from other parts of the country.

It has generated direct employment for 700 personnel and indirect employment for around 2,500 people in the project complex. Moreover, it will generate nearly one lakh indirect employment opportunities through setting up of various downstream plastic processing industries and ancillaries in the region.

The BCPL complex, situated at Lepetkata about 15 kms from Dibrugarh, is spread over 3,000 bighas of land which was acquired and handed over by the Government of Assam to BCPL.

The feedstock for the project will be Natural Gas and Naphtha which will be supplied by Oil India Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and NRL.

BCPL was conceptualized to implement the Assam Gas Cracker project which is an outstanding outcome of the historic Assam Accord signed in 1985 aimed at the socio economic development of the entire North Eastern Region. The project was approved by the Government of India on April 18, 2006.

BCPL is a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India. GAIL (India) Limited is the main promoter having 70% equity participation and the rest 30% is equally shared by Oil India Limited (OIL), Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Government of Assam.

Some of the major challenges faced during the construction of the BCPL plant included requirement of huge earth-filling at the project site which was located at a low-lying area, prolonged monsoon period and heavy rainfall leading to lesser effective working time for construction and scarcity of adequate resources. Despite these hurdles, the plant has been successfully commissioned and dedicated to the Nation today.           

The plants were dedicated to the Nation by the Prime Minister in the august presence of Governor of Assam Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya, Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar, Union Minister of State (I/C), Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of State (I/C), Youth Affairs and Sports, SarbanandaSonowal, Union Minister of State (I/C), Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers HansrajGangaramAhir, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, RameswarTeli, Member of Legislative Assembly, Assam, Prithibi Majhi, besides a host of other dignitaries.

Wax Plant of Numaligarh Refinery Limited: The 50,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) Wax Plant commissioned in March 2015 at a cost of Rs. 676 crores is the country’s largest Wax producing unit with indigenous technology developed by IIP Dehradun, EIL and NRL. Leveraging on the inherent properties of wax rich crude oil from the oil fields of Assam, the plant is designed to produce superior quality paraffin and semi-microcrystalline wax and is a worthy manifestation of the ‘Make in India’ campaign of the Govt. of India. At present, a major part of the country’s annual demand for Paraffin Wax along with the entire demand for Microcrystalline Wax is being met through imports. NRL’s Wax plant will minimize the supply deficit in the domestic market substantially, thus reducing imports. NRL is also exploring opportunities to export Wax to the neighbouring countries aligning with the ‘Act East Policy’ of the Govt. of India.

The Wax Plant will also open up opportunities for ancillary industries to thrive while creating avenues for large scale employment. The utility of Paraffin Wax lies in making candles, tarpaulin sheets, food grade wrappers and in PVC pipe manufacturing industries while Microcrystalline Wax finds widespread application in the manufacture of tyres, rubber products, paints and polishes, pharmaceuticals  and cosmetics.