Adani’s Rs 1.64 lakh crore petrochemical project targets India’s import dependence
India’s petrochemical sector may be heading toward its biggest structural shift in decades as Adani Group moves ahead with a massive coal-to-chemicals strategy through two proposed integrated projects in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The combined investment of nearly Rs 1.64 lakh crore is aimed at producing methanol, synthetic fuels, polyethylene, urea, EVA, MEG and several downstream chemicals that India currently imports heavily. The scale of the proposed Adani coal-to-chemicals project India is unprecedented and could fundamentally alter the country’s petrochemical supply chain.
The two proposed complexes under Mundra Synenergy will together consume nearly 40 million tonnes of coal annually and produce 7.2 million tonnes of methanol, 2 million tonnes of Fischer-Tropsch fuels and 1.2 million tonnes of polyethylene. The project is strategically focused on segments where domestic manufacturing remains weak despite rising demand. Products such as vinyl acetate monomer, ethylene vinyl acetate and mono-ethylene glycol are still substantially imported into India.
The most important aspect of the plan is that it bypasses the traditional naphtha-cracker route dominated by Reliance Industries. Instead, the projects rely on coal gasification and methanol-to-olefins technology. This gives Adani entry into product chains where imported gas-based producers currently dominate economics. Indian Petroplus analysis indicates the strategy is less about competing with Jamnagar and more about occupying the spaces existing refiners have not entered.The projects are still at pre-clearance stage and face execution, environmental and carbon-risk challenges. However, if implemented successfully, the Adani coal-to-chemicals project India could become one of the largest industrial transformation bets ever attempted in the country.
