VATIS UPDATE Article

SRF Ltd., India, will invest Rs. 345 crore in two projects for specialty chemicals and chloromethane. The Board has approved two separate capex proposals aggregating Rs 345 crore. One of the proposals pertains to setting up a chloromethane (CMS) plant at an estimated cost of Rs 165 crore in its chemical complex at Dahej in Gujarat. The project aims to double SRF’s capacity for chloromethanes to 80,000 tonnes per annum. The existing chloromethane plant is situated at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.

The new chloromethane plant will enable SRF to meet the growing needs of its pharma customers for methylene dichloride (MDC) and will strengthen its foothold in the Indian market, which remains a net importer of methylene dichloride (MDC). Besides, MDC is a key raw material for HFC 32, the refrigerant that SRF recently started manufacturing at its Bhiwadi plant with its own technology.

The expansion of chloromethanes plant is, however, strongly linked to captive consumption of chloroform, which has limited usage. SRF is, therefore, uniquely positioned to leverage the opportunity as it has the capability for captive consumption of the other two ingredients, chloroform and carbon tetra chloride (CTC). Apart from its usage as a solvent in the growing pharmaceutical drugs, MDC is also used for various applications such as foam blowing segments, aerosols, polycarbonate resins and adhesive formulations.