Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation a wax plant of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) on February 5 at a public function at Dibrugarh in upper Assam.
According to an NRL release here today, the 50,000-metric tonne wax plant, which was commissioned in March 2015 at a cost of Rs 676 crore, is the country's largest wax producing unit. It uses indigenous technology developed by Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, Engineers India Limited (EIL) and NRL, the release said.
Leveraging on inherent properties of wax rich crude oil from the oil fields of Assam, the plant is designed to produce superior quality paraffin and semi-microcrystalline wax.
The wax plant is a worthy manifestation of the 'Make in India' campaign of the Modi government, the release said.
At present, a major part of the country's annual demand for paraffin wax, besides the entire demand for micro-crystalline wax, is met through imports.
The new wax plant will minimise the supply deficit in the domestic market substantially and also reduce imports, the release said, adding NRL is also exploring opportunities to export wax to neighbouring countries aligning with the 'Act East Policy' of the Centre, it said.
The wax plant will also open up opportunities for ancillary industries to thrive while creating avenues for large scale employment.
The utility of paraffin wax lies in making candles, tarpaulin sheets, food grade wrappers and in PVC pipe manufacturing industries, while micro-crystalline wax finds widespread application in the manufacture of tyres, rubber products, paints and polishes, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, it added.
On that day, the Prime Minister is also scheduled to address a public meeting at Moran in the district, a Sankar Sangha meeting in Sibsagar district and inaugurate the 12th South Asian Games 2016 in Guwahati, official sources said.
