Two veteran businessmen of Asia are going to have a direct competition in Gujarat. A direct battle will be seen in Asia's two richest businessmen Mukesh Ambani and one sector of Adani. The special thing is that in the sector in which Gautam Adani wants to mess with Mukesh Ambani, there is an old hold of Ambani. This means that Gautam Adani is rearing him by reaching Mukesh Ambani's stronghold. It is reported that Gautam Adani's group is going to set up a PVC plant of 1 million tonnes annually in Mundra, Gujarat. With this, the group will enter the petrochemical sector. Reliance Industries is the largest company in this field so far. With this, Adani Group will also compete with Reliance in the PVC sector.

PVC or polyvinyl chloride is a synthetic plastic polymer whose pipes and fittings are widely used to make many products such as window and fittings to window and door frames, cable insulation, vinyl flooring and wall coverings, credit cards and toys. India's annual PVC demand is about 40 lakh tonnes, while the domestic production capacity is about 15.9 lakh tonnes. Half of the domestic capacity is with Reliance. The demand for PVC is expected to increase at the rate of eight -10 percent annually.

Adani will set up PVC plant

Two sources aware of the case said that Adani Group's leading company Adani Enterprises Mundra is creating a petrochemical package. The company is setting up a PVC manufacturing plant of 1 million tonnes of annual capacity there. This plant will be operational till FY 2027-28. The PVC project is expected to include the capabilities of manufacturing PVC, chlor-alkali, calcium carbide and acetylene units. Sources said that the Adani Group wants to implement Acetylene and Carbide based PVC production process. For this, environmental approval and consent to set up a project has already been received. Given the current high demand and low supply of PVC in India, the project of Adani Group will help reduce the difference of supply and reduce import dependence.

Mukesh Ambani will compete directly

The project will raise the Adani Group against Reliance, which is currently the largest PVC producer of India. Reliance has an estimated PVC capacity of around 7,50,000 tonnes per annum. Reliance has PVC plants in Hazira, Dowry and Vadodara in Gujarat. Reliance is planning to double its capacity by 2027. Adani Group and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance have been working in separate sectors from each other for a long time. But the first clean energy and now petrochemical areas will be areas where they can compete against each other. Sources said that on the basis of increase in demand, the capacity of Mundra plant of Adani Group can be increased by 20 lakh tonnes annually in future.

How to fund the plant

Work on the project, which was stopped early in March 2023 due to financial uncertainties and allegations of American short-seler Hindenberg Research, has been resumed last year. The Adani Group has since re -focused on its resources, raising more than five billion US dollars in equity and additional loans. The project will be financed by the alliance of State Bank of India (SBI) -led banks. Sources say that Adani Group is confident of achieving feedstock for the project, as the group has a specialization of trade in domestic and international markets.