Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), a Fortune 500 giant, is Japan’s largest diversified chemical company.It is among the top 10 Chemical Companies of the world. MCC has its operations in around 50 countries and leads about 282 affiliate companies across the globe. It is also the world’s second largest producer of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and began selling the imported chemical in India in the early 90’s.
Seeing the vast growth potential for polyester products in the country, MCC decided to set up its own PTA manufacturing facility in Haldia in 1997. It entered into a shareholders’ agreement with the Government of West Bengal, setting up an affiliate company, MCC PTA India Corp. Private Limited (MCPI), headquartered in Kolkata.
With an initial investment of Rs. 1,475 crore (US$ 380 million at the then prevailing rate), MCPI emerged as Japan’s largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India and began construction of a 350,000 tonne PTA plant at Haldia, West Bengal.
Completed on schedule by the end of 1999, the plant commenced commercial production of PTA in April, 2000, equipped with the highest safety and environment standards. Consistently achieving over 100% capacity utilisation year after year, MCPI enhanced its capacity to 470,000 tonnes in December 2003. Today, it has a turnover of around Rs. 1956 crore (US$ 440 million) (2010-2011 fiscal).
The location of MCPI’s PTA manufacturing facilities on the eastern coast of India at Haldia proved to be most suitable due to its excellent port facilities, abundant land and availability of skilled human resources
Mega Expansion Project – 'The future is now, the future is here'
With the growing demand for polyester products, MCPI decided to go for an expansion project in 2006. Construction work of a 800,000 tonne PTA plant at an investment amount of around Rs. 1,962 crore (US$ 400 million) is now complete and has gone for commercial production in March, 2010. This has been built with the latest proprietary PTA technology of MCC.
MCPI at a Glance
MCPI Shareholders
The MCPI Phase-I and Phase-II plants and a green belt of 104 acres are situated within an approximate area of 324 acres of land.
Backed by a captive power generating facility, the plant is built and operates in compliance with the highest Indian and International standards, environment norms and safety measures. A dedicated 13 km pipeline from Haldia Port carries the principal raw material, Paraxylene, all the way to the plant.
Drawing on the efforts of MCC’s R&D wing, as well as its vast experience in running similar plants elsewhere, MCPI employs one of the most advanced PTA technologies across the globe.
