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Our Bureau

Kochi, July 24

Phillips Carbon Black Ltd, part of the $3.5 billion RPG Group of companies, is planning to expand the capacity of its Kochi plant from the present 40,000 tonnes to 90,000 tonnes.

Mr S.K. Ghosh, Chief of Operations at the Kochi unit, said at a press conference that the company would be investing Rs 160 crore as part of the expansion plans and of this, Rs 8 crore would be made only for environmental protection.

The expansion plans will be completed by September 2009, he said adding, that the existing capacity of 125 tonnes per day will be enhanced to 280 tonnes after expansion.

The Kochi unit, he said, is presently catering to the export market of Sri Lanka and there are plans to start exporting to the European market after the expansion plans.

The company is currently having a market share of 40 per cent in the country, he said.

Mr Ghosh pointed out that PCBL is expanding its capacity in India and abroad by putting up a new carbon black plant in Mundra with a capacity of 80,000 tonnes, which will be commissioned by March next year.

The company is also setting up a new plant in Vietnam with a capacity of one lakh tonnes. With the implementation of these projects including in Kochi, PCBL will become the sixth largest producer in the world. All these projects involve a capital expenditure of Rs 650 crore, he added.

PCBL is the largest manufacturer and exporter of carbon black in India and has three plants located at Durgapur, Palej and Kochi and the company is presently ranked ninth in the world.

Referring to the expansion of Kochi plant, he said that neither additional land nor power is required for the project. Instead, the company would be able to supply approximately 10 MW of power to the Kerala State grid

Denying all allegations with regard to pollution from the Kochi unit, he said that all plants of PCBL meet the environmental standards for industrial as well as residential areas. The company adheres to the pollution control norms specified by the Kerala State PCB which is evident from the continuous online stack monitoring data, ambient air monitoring data and effluent water data.

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