Indofil forms joint venture with Chinese chemicals co

The Rs 5,000-crore K.K. Modi Group company Indofil Industries Ltd on Thursday announced formation of a joint venture with Shanghai Baijin Chemical Group of China. The venture will set up a carbon di-sulphide (CS{-2}) plant at Dahej in Gujarat with an investment of $40 million (nearly Rs 200 crore).

The plant, to be set up by the 51:49 ventre, will be known as Indo Baijin Chemicals Pvt Ltd. It will have an annual capacity to manufacture 50,000 tons of CS{-2} with an eco-friendly green technology, Mr K.K. Modi, Chairman, said here.

It will be the first of its kind plant in India, which currently imports 80 per cent of its CS{-2} requirements as raw material for various industries. Mr Modi told

Business Line that his Group has signed agreement with Chinese partners to set up five to six specialty chemicals plants at Dahej in the next few years, as patents of various products start expiring in different countries. The CS{-2} plant is the first of these proposed plants, to be set up with an estimated investment of nearly Rs 5,000 crore.

The zero-waste plant, using natural gas as raw material, will be entitled to 25,000 tonnes of carbon credit a year and save 50,000 tonnes of wood (58 sq km of forests) annually, Mr Modi pointed out.

Indofil has also acquired two more sites at Dahej for a 6,000-tonne agro-chemical synthesis plant and a specialty chemicals plant with an investment of nearly Rs 600 crore.

Indofil had bought out trademarks and businesses of Dow Agrocide in Europe a couple of years ago. The company has set up a Rs 500-crore facility to manufacture these trademarked products at Dahej, which will start production in October.