GAIL (India) Limited (GAIL), one of the public sector companies and a supplier of polymers, is participating at Indiaplast 2019. Incorporated in 1984, GAIL’s businesses revolve mainly around transmission, sourcing and marketing of natural gas, production and marketing of petrochemicals, LPG, Propane, Pentane and other liquid hydrocarbon products. For its petrochemicals business, the company has ventured into production of plastic raw materials like HDPE and LLDPE, which are used in various plastic applications. The company is showcasing its products in Hall 3, Stand B-1.
Talking to Packaging South Asia, Anand Makwana, chief general manager – Petrochemical Marketing Group of GAIL said, “As a leading public sector company in natural gas and allied products, our division is mainly due to backward integration of natural gas and into petroleum products. GAIL is participating in this exhibition to showcase its products and services to potential customers and visitors.”
He added, “We are showcasing our different grades for many applications which form the backbone of any plastic processing industry. We are offering HDPE resin grades under G-Lex brand from dedicated HDPE plants and HDPE and LLDPE resin grades under G-Lene brand from swing plants. GAIL started its production and marketing of HDPE and LLDPE grades in 1999 with an installed of capacity of 2,60,000 MTs, which was increased to 4,10,000 MTs by 2007. A new plant with a production capacity of 4,10,000 MTs was added in 2016, increasing the current production capacity to 8,10,000 MTs. GAIL has become the first company in India to manufacture Metallocene LLDPE. Earlier, these grades were being imported by the domestic processors. We hope to capture at least 25% market share in the domestic sector as demand for this product is high with sustainable annual growth.”
GAIL is also marketing the HDPE, LLDPE and PP grade resins manufactured from Brahmaputra Crackers and Polymers Division (BCPL), its joint venture, having a plant at Lepetkata, Assam. The installed capacity of BCPL is 2,20,000 MTs of HDPE/LLDPE and 60,000 MTs of PP. During FY 2018-19, BCPL is operating at 100% production capacity.
Talking about the growth of plastic processing industry, Makwana said that the annual growth rate of the plastic industry is in the range of 8 to 10%, which is more than the GDP growth. According to him, the per capita consumption of plastic in India is very low as compared with the world average and developed countries like the US and China. He said, “The per capita plastic consumption of India is just 10 kg/person whereas the world average is 28 kg/person; in the US, it is about 109 kg/person and in China about 45 kg/person.”
We asked him about the sustainability of plastic, to which he said, “Plastic is there in everyday life of an individual and its importance cannot be overlooked. It is like a pre-requisite for a developing society. We start our day with plastic and end it with plastic; it is everywhere. In a country like India, there needs to be more awareness about plastics and its disposal. We need more efforts to educate people about the disposal of used plastic items. A proper waste management and new ideas to convert plastic to re-useable items will help solve the environmental issues.”
At Indiaplast, GAIL has received many serious queries about its products on display.
