HPL embarks on expansion and development of new products

Haldia, Apr 2 (UNI) Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL), which had successfully turned around from the brink of bankruptcy a few years ago, has embarked on a massive expansion programme by setting up a new plant within its own complex and developing new products in the next couple of years at an estimated cost of Rs 6000 crore.

HPL Managing Director Swapan Bhowmik told a group of visiting journalists here today that the final blueprint for this massive expansion programme would formally be placed before the HPL Board later this year before actually kicking off the expansion programme.

He said so far about five different modules of the expansion programme were being chalked out, adding, " We are also expecting to prepare two more modules before placing all of them before the Board for their final approval and to pick up the best among them. " Mr Bhowmik said this expansion would be a balanced combination of the development of new petrochemical products and increase of the capacity of the present plant by about 30 per cent to make both ends meet very successfully.

He said the new plant would certainly come up within the present complex of HPL and did not require any further acquisition from outside the plant area.

Mr Bhowmik elaborated on the financial turnaround of one of the largest joint ventures among the WBIDC (Rs 947 crore), the Chatterjee Group (Rs 689 crore), the IOC (Rs 150 crore) and the Tata Group (Rs 45 crore), which ran into rough weather till March, 2003, when the company's reserve and surplus had plummetted to minus Rs 734 crore and the company's share capital had reduced to Rs 1153 crore.

From that point onwards by executing a well designed corporate restructuring programme, the company's share capital had now improved to Rs 1831 crore and reserve and surplus had also gone up to Rs 675 crore by the end of the last fiscal.

During the same period, the company's gross sale had also made a remrkable turnound from merely Rs 2900 crore in 2002-2003 to Rs 8300 crore in 2006-07, while the company's net profitability had also gone up to Rs 584 crore from a loss of Rs 518 crore in 2002-03.

Referring to the plan for export and increasing overall sale figure of the company during the current fiscal (07-08), he said because of the diversion of some fund for the expansion project, their overall sale might remain static for the current year, though the profitability was expected to grow by 15 to 20 per cent in the wake of the tremendous surge in demand for their products comprising low density polythelene, high density polythelene, polycropylene and their chemical byproducts such as benzene and putadine.

Referring to the growth in demand of their products, he said this had forced them to increase their capital utilisation by around 30 per cent and had even decided to increase their low density and high density polythelene products by at least 50 per cent.

He said since the usage of plastic and plastic products in India was only around four kg per annum compared to 120 kg in the developped countries like the USA and the UK, there was an urgent need to increase the product of the HPL manifold.

Regarding the export programme, he said though at present about 20 per cent of their products was being exported to as many as 17 countries, in case of higher production in the coming years, the number would increase manifold in all the continents.

Earlier, head of HPL plant S R Ghosh claimed that the motor spirit produced by the HPL was the only of its kind produced by any petrochemical comopany in India, and in the wake of its huge demand within the country, they were all set to hike the production level to 20,000 ton per annum from the very next year to bring in more revenue for the company.

UNI