India May Not Require Imported Carbon Fibre Soon With Reliance Investing In Country’s First Factory

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is all set to invest in the manufacture of carbon fibre for purposes of defence and aerospace, towards which a plant will be set up in the future, reports Mint newspaper.

The oil refining behemoth will also endeavour to produce low-cost, high volume composite products such as toilets and homes, in addition to composites for windmills and rotor blades.

Reliance in its latest annual report has said that it has developed capabilities for 3D printing of a wide-range of plastic and metal products.

Reliance is also developing new business verticals in the petrochemicals sector to capture a Rs 30,000-crore composites market and plans to manufacture graphene, enhanced plastics and elastomers and fibre-reinforced composites that act as an alternative to steel.

What is carbon fibre?

Among the most common forms of composites in use nowadays is carbon fibre. It is produced by heating lengths of rayon, pitch or other fibres to extremely high temperatures in an oven that is bereft of oxygen.

The resultant rayon strands are then spun into a thread, woven into sheets and mixed with hardening resins to form the various components required. Composites are used in a wide range of markets and applications such as industrial, railways, renewable energy, defence as well as aerospace.