Chemplast to spend Rs 100 cr at Mettur unit

BS Reporter

Chemplast Sanmar, flagship of Sanmar Group, has chalked out a budget of Rs 100 crore to be spent on zero discharge effluents and environment-friendly membrane cell technologies at its Mettur facility in Tamil Nadu during 2007.

The company will spend an additional Rs 75 crore to convert the production process of caustic soda at its Mettur facility from a mercury cell to a membrane cell-based process. Though statutorily not warranted, the company will be implementing this process ahead of time, a company statement said.

The project, which is likely to be completed by May 2007, will also help the company reduce energy consumption to the tune of 930 kw per ton of caustic soda produced. This initiative will involve recurring maintenance costs for the company as the membranes have to be intermittently replaced to maintain the efficiency of the plant.

As part of its objective to achieve zero discharge effluents by 2007, Chemplast Sanmar has finalized an order with a US-based multinational company having a presence in India for the supply of an advanced reverse osmosis treatment plant, evaporator and crystalliser at a cost of Rs 26 crore.

This technology from the US company will be customized for zero effluent discharge.

Chemplast Sanmar will be the first in the country to apply such a technology to the chemical industry. The project is expected to be completed by October 2007.

Chemplast Sanmar has invested over Rs 50 crore over the past four years towards environment management projects. The additional Rs 100-crore investment will help the company surpass global standards in environment protection and water management, the statement added.

The Mettur plant of the company has an integrated capacity to manufacture 64,000 tpa of PVC, 50,000 tpa of caustic soda and 35,000 tpa of chloromethane products.