Reliance Industries and SIBUR in a Joint Venture for Butyl Rubber Production in India

Delhi, December 21, 2010. The trade relations between India and Russia were given a boost during the official visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India, as the country’s largest private sector company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and the leading Russian petrochemical company SIBUR today announced a joint venture for the production of butyl rubber in India.

The joint venture facility will have an initial capacity of 100,000 tons of butyl rubber at RIL’s integrated refining-cum-petrochemical site in Jamnagar, India. Estimated investment in the project will be US $ 450 mn. The plant will initially produce regular butyl rubber and is expected to manufacture other types of butyl rubber specialities in the future. SIBUR will provide its technology for butyl rubber polymerization and finishing, while RIL will supply monomers and provide the JV with world-class infrastructure and utilities. RIL will have a majority stake in the joint venture.

Commenting on this development, Mr. N. R. Meswani, Executive Director, RIL, said «This is a significant step towards Reliance’s commitment to service India’s growing automotive sector by bringing in complex technologies, available with only a very few companies globally. The setting up of domestic manufacturing of butyl rubber will fulfil a long standing demand of the Indian tyre and rubber industry and this investment is part of Reliance’s vision of emerging as a significant global payer in the synthetic rubber business.»

«We are satisfied with the dynamics of the creation of the joint venture and hope to begin construction soon," said SIBUR’s President Dmitry Konov commenting on the joint venture. «SIBUR has unique technologies for the production of synthetic rubber, which in partnership with Reliance will cater the growing needs of the Indian tyre industry with high-quality raw material.»

About SIBUR

SIBUR is the largest petrochemical company in Russia and Eastern Europe. The value chain of the company covers gas processing, the production of plastics, synthetic rubbers, nitrogen fertilizers, tyres, rubber products, and plastics processing. In 2009, SIBUR has processed more than 16.8 billion m3 of associated petrol gas and produced more than 15 million tons of various petrochemical products. SIBUR’s revenue in 2010 is projected to reach over 220 billion roubles (over US$ 7 billion).

About Reliance Industries Limited

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is India’s largest private sector company on all major financial parameters with a turnover of ` 2,00,400 crore (US$ 44.6 billion), cash profit of ` 27,933 crore (US$ 6.2 billion), net profit of ` 16,236 crore (US$ 3.6 billion) and net worth of ` 1,37,171 crore (US$ 30.6 billion) as of March 31, 2010.

RIL is the first private sector company from India to feature in the Fortune Global 500 list of 'World’s Largest Corporations' and ranks 117th amongst the world’s Top 200 companies in terms of profits. RIL ranks 75th in the Financial Times FT Global 500 list of the world’s largest companies. RIL is rated as the 15th ‘Most Innovative Company' in the World in a survey conducted by the US financial publication — Business Week in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group.