Reliance to repurpose and restructure its gasification assets

Reliance Industries stated in a late-night statement on Wednesday that it will implement a scheme to repurpose and restructure its gasification assets. “The Board of Reliance Industries Limited has today decided to implement a scheme of arrangement to transfer gasification undertaking into a wholly-owned subsidiary,” it said. 

The gasification project at Jamnagar was set to ensure production of syngas that would meet the energy requirements as refinery off-gases are repurposed for the Refinery Off Gas Cracker (ROGC), ensuring production of olefins at competitive operating costs. Syngas also helps to keep energy costs stable, and is further used to produce hydrogen for consumption in the Jamnagar refinery. 

“As RIL progressively transitions to renewables as its primary source of energy, more syngas will become available for upgradation to high-value chemicals including C1 chemicals and hydrogen. Further, carbon-dioxide released during the process of producing hydrogen is highly concentrated and easy to capture, substantially reducing the cost of carbon capture. Overall, these steps will help sharply reduce the carbon footprint of the Jamnagar complex,” it stated. The company is aiming at a portfolio that is fully sustainable and is net carbon zero. 

India is likely to see a deficit of these value chemicals in the foreseeable future, RIL stated. “Repurposing the gasification assets will help use syngas as a reliable source of feedstock to produce these chemicals and cater to growing domestic demand, resulting in an attractive business opportunity,” it added.

RIL expects to be the first mover to establish a hydrogen ecosystem as the hydrogen economy expands.  

The company said that the risk and returns associated with the gasifier assets are likely to be different from the other businesses of the conglomerate. RIL also expects to attract a different pool of investors and strategic partners for the gasification assets.

The gasification scheme has been approved by the board on a slump sale basis for a lump sum consideration.  

The appointed date of the scheme is March 31, 2022, following the approval of stock exchanges, creditors, shareholders, NCLT and other regulatory authorities.

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