MUMBAI, May 30: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is planning to develop Jamnagar in Gujarat as its next growth centre. Plans are well underway to invest approximately Rs 5,000 crore to create another petrochemical complex on the lines of its Hazira complex.

``In committing resources of this magnitude, RIL key objective is to retain the competetiveness of the company in a fast changing world where the time scales for industrialisation is shortening. It took Japan only 25 years and Korea 13 years to achieve what the US did in 40 years.

The target for China is less than 10 years and India cannot be far behind,'' according to Dhirubhai H Ambani, chairman of RIL.

In a letter to the shareholders incorporated in the company's 23rd annual report (1996-97), Ambani further said a new phase of growth has commenced with the completion of Hazira.

``Production capacities of Reliance will increase four fold to over six million tonnes per annum on completion of Hazira Petrochemicals Complex. This four fold volume growth in production capacity will emerge as the key determinant of Reliance's business performance in the coming years,'' he said.

Hazira expansion completes Reliance's vertical integration chain. As a result, cost positions have improved and the operations have become global in scale and more competetive. ``I am confident that Reliance's is now in a better position to fully participate in the robust demand growth in domestic markets,'' the Reliance chief said.

A significant achievement of 1996-97 is the substantial completion of the ambitious world scale expansion at the Hazira complex. This complex, involving an investment of over Rs 9,000 crore has created world class assets and is unparalleled in the Indian Corporate history. This also represents the single largest investment by any Indian private sector enterprise at a single location.

.Hazira today is among the few of the world's largest petrochemical complexes. The scale of operations combined with the extent of integration makes it unique in the global chemical context.

``It also secures for Reliance a slot among the top polyester producers in the world. For all of us at Reliance, Hazira represents a tremendous accomplishment,'' Ambani said.

Meanwhile, Reliance has appointed Touche Ross & Company, a member of Deloitte, Touche and Tohmatsu International (DTTI) has its international accountants. The company will work with Touche Ross & Company to harmonise Indian and international accounting practices.

Reliance is currently in the process of implementing three independent power project (IPPs) as separate entities with total power generating capacity of 1331 MW at Patalganga (Maharashtra), Bawana (Delhi),Jamnagar (Gujarat). Last year, the power purchase agreement (PPA) for Patalganga was signed.

Reliance's forays into the power sector are a further step in its vertical backward integration strategy.

"From oil well head to power generation" is the theme underlying the Reliance strategy. Feedstock linkage is key in the integration between Reliance's refining and oil and gas ventures are ideally positioned to provide fuel to the power generation units.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.