Epsilon Carbon, a coal tar derivates company, has established India’s first integrated carbon black complex with ₹550 crore investment at Bellary, Karnataka.

With a capacity of 115,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), the carbon black unit is already running close to full capacity, said the company.

As part of phase two, Epsilon will expand its capacity by 65,000 tpa at an additional investment of ₹350 crore, taking the total investment close to ₹900 crore.

Epsilon Carbon plans expansion into Europe, US markets

Further, the company will expand its carbon black capacity to 300,000 tpa to become the country’s largest single-location carbon black plant, which will bring cost-efficiency and consistent quality products for customers.

The integrated facility produces carbon black for tyre, non-tyre rubber and plastic masterbatch partners globally.

The newly commissioned complex has a complete backward integration support for raw material sourcing.

Epsilon Carbon to invest ₹900 crore in new carbon black plant in Karnataka

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 helpEpsilon Carbon produce consistent quality carbon black.

In a first, the integrated carbon complex uses waste coke oven gas from the steel plant as a fuel, and the tail-gas from the carbon black unit is fed back to the steel complex for pre-heating operations. Compared to other plants that use three per cent sulphur as feedstock, Epsilon’s new unit uses 0.3-0.5 per cent captive low-sulphur as feedstock.

Vikram Handa, Managing Director, Epsilon Carbon, said a lot of opportunities will emerge in the tyre, mechanical rubber goods and industrial plastic sectors in the next few years.

The company has appointed over 30 partners to assist with local service, warehousing and logistics support, besides providing just-in-time delivery to customers, he said.

Started in 2010, Epsilon Carbon has manufacturing facilities in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Orissa — strategically close to raw material sources and customers.

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