Mumbai: Haldia Petrochemicals will invest Rs800 crore for expanding its ethylene capacity by 30 per cent, from 523,000 tonnes to 670,000 tonnes.

Funds needed for the expansion would be raised from internal accruals, Bhowmik told a CII conference in Kolkata.

The expansion programme is expected to be completed by April, Haldia Petrochemicals' managing director Swapan Kumar Bhowmik said. Haldia Petrochemicals is currently working on three different projects, Bhowmik added without giving further details.

Globally, Bhowmik said, ethylene capacity was set to go up to 157 million tonnes in 2010 from 116 million tonnes in 2005.

Asia would account for 52 per cent of the global ethylene capacity in 2010 against 39 per cent in 2005 following the shift in petrochemical units from Europe to Asia, he pointed out.

However, Bhowmik said, petrochemical margins would drop by 2008-end and the segment would witness a downward cycle in the subsequent three years.

The prices in polymers are currently at its peak and could go down with new facilities coming up in Asia, affecting margins, he said.

Meanwhile, Bengal, which is keen on a petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR) in Haldia, is yet to submit an expression of interest. The state even had chosen Indian Oil as the anchor investor.

Bengal is planning a PCPIR around Haldia as there are many chemicals and petrochemical units in the region, such as Haldia Petrochemicals, Mitsubishi PTA and Indian Oil.

The Salim Group of Indonesia has proposed a chemical and multi-product SEZ in the Haldia region. Bengal had picked Indian Oil as the anchor investor for the proposed chemical SEZ.

However, the disturbances in Nandigram, the proposed site for the chemical SEZ, have forced the state to look for another site.