Assam Petrochemicals Limited

Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd. (APL) is a state level public sector undertaking of Govt. of Assam incorporated on 22nd April 1971. The foundation stone of the company was laid at Namrup on 15th June 1971 for production of Methanol and Formalin. Assam Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (AIDC) promoted the company for manufacture of Methanol from Natural Gas which was abundantly available in the adjoining oil field in the Upper Assam. The Petrochemical complex of APL is the first of its kind in India, having natural gas as feedstock. Formalin is its downstream product. The company started its commercial production of Methanol and Formalin in June, 1976 from its two plants of 21 MTPD and 36 MTPD capacities respectively and a few Urea Formaldehyde resins as downstream projects with technology supplied by Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals Co., Japan.

Having availability of Natural Gas in the nearby oil fields in the upper Assam, APL set up another 100 TPD Methanol plant and commissioned it in 1989 with technology supplied by ICI, UK and the 100 TPD capacity Formalin expansion plant in 1997 with technology from Derivados Forestales of Nederland. After the Supreme Court ban on timber industry in 1996, APL found it difficult to market Formalin, as it was used in big ways by plywood manufacturers located in NE Region. Further, closure of the DMT plant of Bongaigaon Refinery and Petro-Chemicals Ltd. in 2000 closed the doors on another important consumer. Despite these twin setbacks that almost completely dried up its market within the state where it earned maximum profit, APL could make its own way of growth by selling Formalin to markets in the rest of the country, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Further, APL revamped its 100TPD Formaldehyde plant to 125TPD in the year 2012. Present Plant Capacities-Methanol and Formalin are 100TPD and 125 TPD respectively.