Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited (IEPL), Port Harcourt, and other companies under the Indorama operations in Nigeria contributed a total of $2.7 billion to the nation’s rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $509.9 billion, Manish Mundra, managing director of the company, has said.
Already, the Eleme-based petrochemical company plans to invest additional $4.4 billion in its operations in the country by 2019, to become the largest petrochemical hub of Africa.
The $4.4 billion investment portfolio includes the IEPL’s ongoing fertiliser plant, said to have 1.4 million metric tons per annum (MTPA) of nitrogenous fertiliser; an 84 km gas pipeline and port projects targeted to be completed in 2015; the planned methanol and NGL projects, as well as the petrochemicals and PET plants already in operation, Mundra said.
The fertiliser plant is located within the existing complex measuring 361 hectares, and would occupy approximately 38 hectares.
The IEPL managing director spoke during a visit to the petrochemical plant by the Senate Committee on Privatisation, led by Gbenga Obadara and officials of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
The Senate Committee and BPE visit to the petrochemical company was to get first-hand information on the successes and challenges of companies privatised by the Federal Government, and to assess their compliance with the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) and Post Acquisition Plan (PAP) they signed with government.
Mundra informed the committee and BPE team that Indorama’s investment in IEPL was one of the major foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the downstream non-oil and gas sector of the Nigeria, saying
Indorama Group had to date injected $575 million into the Eleme Petrochemicals Company (EPL) since it acquired the company in 2006.
He maintained that IEPL had saved the country millions of US dollars in foreign exchange by meeting local demands of raw materials needed by over 200 plastics manufacturing companies in the country, thereby preventing outflow of foreign exchange towards imports.
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