The Atmanirbhar initiative of the BPCL-Kochi Refinery has received a major boost with the company despatching 1,000th truck carrying niche petrochemicals from its production unit on Thursday.

This marks a milestone in the Atmanirbhar destiny of the country since niche petrochemicals are being produced and marketed in world-scale economic size capacity for the first time.

The 1,000th truck carrying niche petrochemicals was flagged off by Sanjay Mehrishi, Chief General Manager (Information Systems) and Teekam Singh, Territory Manager (Industrial & Commercial) BPCL in the presence of Sanjay Khanna, Executive Director (Kochi Refinery).

These niche petrochemicals are being manufactured in the newly commissioned units of BPCL’s Propylene Derivatives Petrochemical Complex.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dedicated the complex on February 14, 2021. The cost of setting up the complex was ₹6,000 crore approximately.

The complex uses 250,000 tonnes of propylene a year and produces niche petrochemicals as butyl acrylate, ethyl hexyl acrylate, acrylic acid, ethyl hexanol and normal butanol. The acrylic acid unit is the largest single-train unit globally (160,000 tonnes a year). Both acrylic acid and acrylates units are the first in the country.

The first parcel was flagged off on April 14. Since then, 20,000 tonnes of products have been sold to various ancillary industries as paints and adhesives.

“Niche petrochemical sector is a new area for us. However, we are learning the nuances of this complex sector and progressing towards fully energiszng this petrochemical area, wishing many more 1000th soon”, said Khanna, Executive Director (Kochi Refinery).

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