Reliance to double polyester capacity

Reliance Industries, the country's largest private sector company, is doubling its polyester fibre and yarn capacities. The expansion will promote it from being the world's second largest manufacturer of polyester fibre and yarn to the world's largest.

RIL is adding 2.3 lakh tonnes per annum (tpa) of fibre and 3.2 lakh tpa of yarn capacities at its Hazira and Patalganga units to take the entire Reliance group's total production to over 1.5 million tonne per annum.

Thus RIL will overtake Nan Ya Plastics Corporation of Taiwan, currently the world's largest manufacturer of polyester fiber and yarn.

After the expansion, just RIL's total polyester fibre and yarn capacity will touch 1.1 million tonnes per annum. The expansion is expected to take anywhere between 9 and 15 months.

The capacities are expected to come up in 2004-2005 when the WTO quotas on apparels are scheduled to be lifted, industry sources said.