Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto inaugurated a captive power plant owned by PT Indorama Petrochemicals with an installed capacity of 30 megawatts (MW) in Cilegon, Banten province, on Thursday (Nov 29).

Minister Airlangga praised the company for its efforts to utilize the heat vapor in the factory to produce energy, thereby reducing production costs.

"I really appreciate Indorama for making its factory more competitive. The petrochemical industry should always upgrade its technology, especially the one that helps the company reduce production costs and use energy efficiently," Airlangga said.

He also lauded the two factories owned by Indorama which are currently running smoothly.

According to Airlangga, the national industry is currently driven to produce high value-added products. One of the efforts to encourage the national industry`s competitiveness is made by continuously creating innovations.

On the same occasion, President Director of PT Indorama Petrochemicals, Saurabh Mishra, said the company is striving to increase investment by building a power plant to reduce production costs, among others.

Mishra pointed out that Indorama had invested US$400 million, including US$55 million for constructing a captive power plant and around US$110 million for factory renovation.

With the investment, the production capacity of the plant will increasingly become bigger, and the production costs will increasingly become more efficient.

"In the past, we only produced 33 tons per hour, now the plant can produce 58 tons per hour. With this new investment, we are trying to save energy costs by up to 20 percent," Mishra noted.

PT Indorama Petrochemical, a producer of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), has been operating since 2013. The production of the plant increased from 33 tons per hour to 58 tons per hour. One hundred percent of PTA Indorama Chemical`s products are absorbed by domestic needs, including for textile industry.

"Our products are used by the Indorama group and a number of local markets. In the downstream sector, the industries that use our products have exported their products. So, we indirectly have exported too," he said.

Reporting by Mentari Dwi Gayati
Editing by Libertina, Suharto

Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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