Reliance Industries, which acquired BP Plc’s Malaysian petrochemical oil and gas processing plant in Kuantan for $230 million in September, is bullish about its prospects in the South-East Asian nation. Reliance is keen to invest more capital in Malaysia to explore new domains.
Reliance Industries’ President (polyester chain), R.D. Udeshi, met the Malaysian Minister for International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, in Mumbai on Thursday. The Reliance conglomerate, said to be the world’s largest yarn producer, is present in Malaysia through Recron Malaysia, a key player in the global polyester and textile market. Reliance Industries had invested around $400 million in acquiring the manufacturing assets of Recron Malaysia in Nilai and Melaka.
Udeshi said the company is looking for opportunities in the oil and gas, refinery and petrochemical sector, which it specialises in. The Indian major plans to set up a gas cracker in India, with downstream units to better integrate polymer and polyester production.
Earlier, during the September acquisition, BP said it had agreed to sell all its interests in purified terephthalic acid (PTA) production in Malaysia to Reliance Global Holdings Pte Ltd, Singapore. The latter is an associate firm of Reliance Ports and Terminals.
amritanair.ghaswalla@thehindu.co.in