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EXPANDING PRESENCE petrochemical subsidiary, OPaL. With formed a joint venture with Mitsui to LNG from Qatar, to Reliance Industries-
the changed composition of LNG, the build VLECs. owned IPCL till its plant to convert
Air Liquide to double capacity in Gujarat with new ASU company is now looking at importing them into polymers came up. The C2-
ethane. ONGC built the C2/C3 extraction C3 plant has a handling capacity of
French industrial gases major, Air unit at Dahej in Bharuch district of 4.9-mtpa of LNG. OPaL operates a 1.1-mtpa
Liquide, is investing in its second Air ONGC plans to source and supply Gujarat in 2008-09. However, its subsi- of ethylene capacity dual feed cracker,
Separation Unit (ASU) and Cylinder 800,000-tpa of ethane to secure the diary OPaL could build the petrochemi- along with associated units and polymer
Filling Station (CFS) in Bhagapura, feedstock for OPaL, from May 2028 cal plant only in 2017. It sold the C2-C3 plants, to manufacture HDPE, LLDPE,
Gujarat. onwards. To ship this ethane, it has compounds extracted from the imported PP and styrene butadiene rubber.

The company’s Indian arm will CHALLENGING CONDITIONS
build, own and operate the new ASU
and CFS which are planned to start Borosil Renewables to shut German subsidiary;
operating in 2027. This expansion will
effectively double Air Liquide’s pro- to focus on Indian solar glass market
duction capacity in the region, comple-
menting the existing ASU plant at Borosil Renewables has fi led an per day) was once a vital part of measures by the authorities concerned
Jhagadia and ensuring enhanced supply In line with Air Liquide’s sustain- day of oxygen, nitrogen and argon application to wind up operations Borosil’s global footprint, serving has led to the shutdown of major solar
for customers across Gujarat. ability objectives which include reach- gases. of its German subsidiary to sharpen the European solar glass market. module manufacturers in Germany,
ing carbon neutrality by 2050 and the focus on the Indian solar glass However, since the second half with some of them filing for the
The Bhagapura ASU will allow Air state’s wind-solar hybrid power policy, Benoit Renard, Managing Director, market. of 2023, the landscape changed commencement of insolvency pro-
Liquide to support Gujarat’s industrial there is a plan to decarbonise the site Air Liquide India, said: “We are more dramatically. ceedings. Eventually, this resulted in
growth by serving sectors like auto- through procurement of renewable than doubling Air Liquide’s produc- In a regulatory filing, Borosil the disappearance of the market
motive, battery, electronics, with on site, energies from 2029, the company tion capacity in Gujarat with our in- Renewables said its material step-down “The challenges for GMB began demand for solar glass manufactured
bulk, packaged gases and applications, informed in a press note. vestments in this new state-of-the-art subsidiary in Germany, GMB Glasmanu- with slide in demand for German-made by GMB, causing substantial losses
as well as local hospitals for medical effcient air separation plant and this faktur Brandenburg GmbH, has fi led solar panels, when faced with the preci- to GMB, which has affected the con-
gases. The plant will have a production Air Liquide India owns six cylinder filling centre. By increasing an application for the commencement pitous drop in prices by Chinese solidated fi nancials of the company,
capacity of 200 tonnes per day, while production facilities across North our footprint, we will contribute to the of insolvency proceedings before the manufacturers of solar panels, who it said.
the filling centre has the capacity of and West India with a production growth of industries and healthcare Insolvency Court at Cottbus, Germany, have engaged in large-scale dumping in
nearly 1,000 cylinders per day. capacity of almost 1,500 tonnes per sectors in this region.” in accordance with the German Insol- the European market, using predatory Industry experts said the insol-
vency Code (InsO). pricing. Despite the alarms sounded vency filing will lead to sharper
TRANSPORTING FEEDSTOCK by the German solar module manu- focus on Indian operations that are
The company said the decision was facturers seeking protection against witnessing signifi cant tailwinds. The
ONGC joins up with Japan’s Mitsui to build ethane carriers reached after a comprehensive assess- such dumping, policy responses to move allows Borosil Renewables

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas tions Ltd. (OPaL), a subsidiary of into CNG or used as cooking fuel) as ment of market conditions, fi nancial via- date have been insuffi cient,” the fi ling to halt capital bleed in a structurally
Corporation (ONGC) has signed an ONGC, for captive use as feedstock,” well as ethane and propane – feedstock bility, and long-term strategic priorities. said. declining market and reallocate
agreement with Japan’s Mitsui OSK the fi ling said. to make LPG and petrochemicals – on resources toward its growth nucleus,
Lines to enter into a partnership to build a fi rm basis and the rest on best endeav- GMB (capacity of 350 tonnes Lack of meaningful protective India.
two very large ethane carriers that will ONGC plans to import ethane start- our basis.
be used to import petrochemical feed- ing in mid-2028 to compensate for the PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION
stock for its subsidiary. In a regulatory altered composition of liquefi ed natural This contract is coming to an end
fi ling, ONGC said it signed a Heads of gas (LNG) sourced from Qatar, according in 2028 and the revised contract signed GACL ships out fi rst consignment of benzyl products
Agreement with Mitsui “to enter into a to a tender that the state-owned fi rm last year envisages QatarEnergy sup-
partnership to build, own and operate fl oated in March this year for selecting plying ‘lean’ gas (one that is stripped of Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals by Avantika Singh, IAS, Managing chemicals, dyes and other industries,
two very large ethane carriers (VLECs). a partner for building the VLECs. ethane and propane). Ltd. (GACL) fl agged off the fi rst con- Director, GACL. supporting exports and job creation.
It, however, did not give financial signments of benzyl alcohol and benzal-
details of the partnership, including the India imports 7.5-mtpa of LNG ONGC had spent about Rs. dehyde from its newly commissioned With a capacity of 30,000-tpa, this “This strategic initiative highlights
equity stake the two fi rms would hold. from Qatar. Under the deal, Qatar 1,500-crore in setting up a C2 (ethane) chlorotoluenes plant at Dahej (Gujarat) state-of-the-art chlorotoluenes facility GACL’s commitment to innovation,
Energy supplies 5-mtpa of LNG that and C3 (propane) extraction plant at on July 5, 2025. is the largest in India, and will produce self-reliance, and sustainable growth,”
“The VLECs shall be shipping contains methane (used to produce Dahej in Gujarat. The C2/C3 so ex- high-value chemicals used in pharma- the company said in a social media
imported ethane to ONGC Petro Addi- electricity, make fertiliser, converted tracted was used as a feedstock in its The virtual fl ag-off was done ceutical, perfumery, flavour, agro- post.

148 Chemical Weekly July 15, 2025 Chemical Weekly July 15, 2025 149

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