In spite of various difficulties posed by several external factors, the Brahmaputra Cracker & Polymer Ltd's (BCPL) project, also called the Assam Gas Cracker Project, is heading in the right direction and 79.6 percent of the project work is already completed.
Talking to reporters, BCPL Managing Director PN Prasad said the petrochemical project launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in April, 2007, is expected to go operational by December 2013, following its conclusion in July 2013. Originally, April 2012 was fixed as the deadline for completion of the project.
On completion, the project will have an annual production capacity of 220,000 tons of ethylene, 60,000 tons of propylene and 60,000 tons of polypropylene.
While GAIL holds 70 percent stake in the project, NRL, OIL and the Assam Government hold the rest 30 percent stake in equal proportion.
Mr. Prasad said several external factors such as bad weather, unsatisfactory performance of contractors and workers' strife have been hampering the progress of the project, but they are trying hard to ensure that there is no further delay in completing the project.
He informed that impacted by factors like increasing cost of construction, technology and design change and inflated time-line, the project cost has gone up and the total budget for the project has been hiked from Rs. 54.6 billion to Rs. 92.85 billion.
By September 15, 2012, a sum of Rs. 52.799 billion was spent in capital expenditure for the project, representing a financial progress of 59.19 percent.
Upon commissioning, the project would employ around 620 employees, of which, around 426 recruitments will be in the executive cadre, Mr. Prasad said.
