Reliance wipes out competition in petrochem

RELIANCE-NOCIL DEAL

The last trace of competition to Reliance Industries in the petrochemical sector has disappeared with the acquisition of the Arvind Mafatlal group's Nocil Ltd.

Reliance Industries which took over Indian Petrochemicals Corporation , Reliance maintained its leadership position in the domestic market.

In its media release, RIL said that the "proposed take over of NOCIL's petrochemical and plastics products division will provide significant synergies with existing petrochemicals businesses of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL)."

However, analysts claim that "the last straw of competition has been wiped off and RIL has become a total monopoly in the petrochemical sector. It will gain substantially with the upswing in the cyclical petrochemical industry.".

Earlier, Anil Ambani, vice chairman and managing director of RIL had said that Petrochemical sector was poised to see an upcycle within the next two years. Analysts said that the acquisition could be seen as one to time the upswing in the petrochemical cycle.