BASF SE, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany (BASF) and Adani Group (Adani) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the eve of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019, to evaluate a major joint investment in the acrylics value chain.
This is BASF’s largest investment in India to establish Mundra as a unique chemical cluster.
According to the MoU, BASF and Adani want to establish a joint venture with an investment totalling around €2 billion (approximately INR 16,000 crore), in which BASF will hold the majority.
The potential investment comprises the development, construction and operation of production plants including propane dehydrogenation (PDH), oxo C4 complex (butanols and 2-ethylhexanol), glacial acrylic acid (GAA), butyl acrylate (BA) and potentially other downstream products.
BASF
Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Executive Board of BASF SE, (right) and Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group
The products are predominantly for the Indian market to serve a wide range of local industries, including construction, automotive and coatings, supporting “Make in India” initiative by supplying growing demand from local customer industries
“India continues to be a very large importer of petrochemicals given the rapid expansion of the middle class, and this leads to a significant outflow of precious foreign exchange,” said Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group.
“Our partnership with BASF is a big step forward in enabling our country’s ‘Make in India’ program, as this partnership will allow us to produce in Mundra several of the chemicals along the C3 chemical value chain that we are currently importing.”
In line with BASF’s carbon neutral growth strategy, the chemical site in Mundra would be the company’s first CO2-neutral production site.
