Guwahati (Assam) [India], April 1 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the newly installed methanol plant of Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APL) at Namrup in Dibrugarh district with a capacity of 500 Tonnes Per Day (TPD) on April 14.

"As per its expansion plans, the company had targeted producing 500 tonnes of methanol per day at its plant in Namrup and 200 tonnes per day at Bongaigaon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the plant on April 14," Assam Industries and Commerce Minister Bimal Bora on Saturday said.

Bora further said that established in 1971, Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) is the first company in the country to produce methanol from natural gas and is a leading player in the Indian petrochemical industry, known for its high-quality products and a strong commitment to sustainable development.

The Assam Minister on Saturday chaired a meeting in Guwahati to review preparations for the event and take stock of the functioning of the plant.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary, Department of Industry, Commerce and PE, GoA, Dr Lakshmanan S, Commissioner, Department of Industry and Commerce, Oinam Sarankumar Singh and various representatives of Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APL) and other stakeholders.

Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APL), the first company in India to set up a Methanol plant using Natural Gas as feedstock, is a Government of Assam undertaking, with 51% shares of the company held by the Government of Assam and 49% of shares held by Oil India Limited, incorporated in April 1971.

At present a 100 Ton Per Day (TPD) Methanol and 125 TPD Formalin plants located at Namrup, Assam are fully functional under APL.

APL initiated an expansion programme on October 3 in 2017, for the installation of a 500 TPD Methanol plant at Namrup in Dibrugarh District and a 200 TPD Formalin Plant at Boitamari, Bongaigaon District, at a project cost of Rs 1709 crore.

The 500 TPD Methanol plant at Namrup has been successfully installed and the trial runs have been conducted for raw methanol production with the lean natural gas (99% in Methane) supplied by Oil India Limited from the gas fields in Assam and transported by Assam Gas Company Ltd. (AGCL), another government of Assam Public Sector undertaking.

The 200 TPD formalin project is expected to be commissioned in November 2023 for which the feedstock will be the methanol produced from the 500 TPD Methanol plant to be commissioned now. (ANI)