GMR Infra plans SEZ in Tamil Nadu

Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) for the development of a multi-product special economic zone (SEZ) in Krishnagiri district.

According to a release issued by GMR to the BSE today, the SEZ would be developed through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be set up through a joint venture in partnership with TIDCO.

The multi-product SEZ will be spread around 3,300 acres, and the cost for developing the basic infrastructure is estimated around Rs 2,300 crore. The total development cost, including industrial and social infrastructure, would be around Rs 11,000 crore.

The SEZ would be operational by 2009, and the entire development would be completed by 2014, the release added.

RIL, Rohm to set up chemical unit

Sign an MoU for 200,000 tonne facility at Jamnagar.

Reliance Industries today announced that it will set up a chemical plant at Jamnagar in Gujarat in partnership with US-based Rohm and Haas Co, the world’s biggest producer of acrylic-paint ingredients.

The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding for a plant with a capacity to produce 200,000 tonnes of acrylic acid annually.

Products from the new plant would be used to make paints, packaging adhesives, detergents, and textile and construction materials, Reliance said in a statement to the exchanges.

Industry sources said the decision to collaborate with Rohm and Haas meant Reliance would not acquire the commodities business of Dow Chemicals. Read more at Business Standard

RIL, Rohm and Haas sign MoU for acrylic unit

Reliance Industries (RIL) and Rohm and Haas Company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the joint construction of a world-scale acrylic-monomer complex in Jamnagar, India.

According to a release issued by Reliance to the BSE today, the proposed facility would have the capacity to make approximately 2,00,000 tonne of acrylic acid and its esters annually. "Materials from the facility are intended to serve as building blocks for environmentally-advanced products for paints and coatings, packaging adhesives, detergents, textile and construction materials. The new facility is expected to spur development of super absorbent polymers used primarily in the manufacture of baby diapers," the release added.

RIL inches closer to mega JV with Dow

There’s yet another big global deal brewing and this might turn out to be a real blockbuster. It’s actually a global petrochem powerhouse in the making. Reliance Industries, which has been talking to the $49-billion Dow Chemicals-the world’s second-largest chemicals company-has inched closer to signing an MoU with the US company.

According to sources, talks are at an advanced stage and the two sides are expected to make a formal announcement by this weekend. RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, along with a top-level team, including Nikhil Meswani, Kamal P Nanavaty, Alok Agarwal and Haresh Shah, is scheduled to meet Dow CEO Andrew N Liveris and the rest of the senior team for the final round of negotiations.

The Reliance official spokesperson, however, denied that a deal like this was in the offing. Even an email to Reliance failed to elicit any response. Dow Chemical’s media relations leader Andrew Wood expressed his inability to answer ET’s queries, stating that it is Dow’s policy not to comment on rumours about the company or its activities.

Read more at Economic Times