Petrochemicals are mainly those chemicals which are derived from petroleum. These are widely used in the production of plastics, synthetic fibres, synthetic rubber, detergents, insecticides, dyestuff, etc. Various constituents of natural gas and refinery gases are separated and used for producing petrochemicals.
The petrochemical industry is of very recent origin and at present, it is one of the fastest growing industries. The first petrochemical plant in India was set up by the Union Carbide India Ltd. at Trombay in 1966. The Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (IPCL) was the first public sector plant to be located at Jawaharnagar (near Vadodara) in Gujarat. It started its production in 1973.
Since then, a number of small and large petrochemical complexes have been set up in different parts of the country. Some plants mainly produce polymers (used in making plastic goods) and some synthetic fibres (used in the making of cloth), and others produce synthetic rubber, detergents, drugs, insecticides, etc.
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The main centres of production are Mumbai, Vadodara, Nagothane (Maharashtra), Bongaigaon (Assam), Hazira (Gujarat), etc. New plants have also been developed at Koyali, Haldia, Barauni, Jamnagar, Auraiya, Gandhar, Vishakhapatnam, Payal (near Ludhiana) and Mangalore.
There has been a steady increase in the production and consumption of major petrochemical products in India. Under the liberalisation programme, a large part of the industry has been delicensed. This has encouraged many multinational companies to show interest in it.
It may also be mentioned that India is now almost self-sufficient in some essential petrochemicals. In fact, India has already started exporting some of the major products of petrochemical industry.