Epsilon Carbon Private Limited (ECPL), India’s leading coal tar derivatives company, has established India’s first integrated carbon black complex located in Bellary, Karnataka.

With a capacity of 115,000 tpa, the Carbon Black Unit has successfully commissioned its operations and is already running close to its full capacity.

The integrated facility produces both Tread and Carcass grades of ASTM carbon blacks for tyre, non-tyre rubber and plastic masterbatch partners globally.

This newly commissioned complex enjoys natural competitive advantage by providing a complete backward integration support for raw material sourcing. The Anthracene oil generated in the coal tar distillation process will be used as a clean feedstock in the carbon black unit. The security of raw materials and consistency in feedstock quality helps ECPL to produce consistent quality carbon black which are designed for tyre & mechanical rubber Goods applications. 

This integrated carbon complex is the first-of-its-kind manufacturing facility in India, which uses waste coke oven gas from the steel plant as a fuel and tail gas from the Carbon black unit is fed back to the steel complex for pre-heating operations. Compared to other plants, which use high Sulphur feedstock (3% Sulphur), this unit uses captive low-Sulphur feedstock (0.3-0.5% Sulphur). All these parameters have enabled this carbon black plant setting a new benchmark in low SOx/NOx and CO2 emissions, making it highly ecological and best in class.

As part of Phase 2 plans, Epsilon will further expand its capacity by another 65,000 TPA, with additional investment of Rs. 350 crore, which will bring the total investment close to Rs. 900 crore. Epsilon plans to further expand its capacity of Carbon Black to 300,000 TPA, at full capacity it will be India’s largest single location carbon black plant which will bring cost efficiency and consistent quality products for our customers. 

Commenting on the Carbon black business prospects, Vikram Handa, Managing Director, Epsilon Carbon said, “Globally the markets are growing steadily, and we see lots of opportunities in both tyre, mechanical rubber goods and industrial plastic in the next few years. In today’s global supply chain, customers are looking for localization and Epsilon Carbon is well positioned to cater to the growing demand with niche quality products.”