<article><p class="lead">Major Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises has set up a new subsidiary, Adani Petrochemicals (APL), to invest in refineries, petrochemical complexes, specialty chemical units, hydrogen and related chemical plants.</p><p>No details were released of the scale of the investment, types of chemicals or timeline, but APL intends to be in direct competition with India's largest private-sector refiner and petrochemicals producer Reliance Industries (RIL). </p><p>Adani's previous forays into the petrochemical sector include an initial deal with German chemical producer BASF in 2019 to invest in a €2bn chemical plant in Mundra, Gujarat. The deal was expanded a year later to include Abu Dhabi's state-owned energy firm Adnoc and Austrian chemical company Borealis. The plan was <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2157013">later put on hold</a> because of the Covid-19 pandemic. </p><p>RIL's Jamnagar complex in western India houses the world's largest integrated refining and petrochemical hub with crude processing capacity of 1.24mn b/d integrated to an off-gas cracker with 1.5mn t/yr ethylene capacity. The company has a total paraxylene capacity of 4.3mn t/yr and is one of the world's largest producers of polyester fibre and yarn.</p><p>Adani, which already has a stronghold in sustainable energy, deepened its partnership with France's TotalEnergies — previously known as Total — in January, when the French firm <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2177962">acquired a 20pc interest</a> in Adani Green Energy.</p><p class="bylines">By Kate Lee</p></article>
