Mumbai, June 19 :     Reliance Industries Ltd is on the prowl again. Not content with a huge polyester capacity of around 8 lakh tonnes per annum, the giant is believed to be in negotiations with the Thapars of JCT Ltd to acquire the latter's polyester capacity of over 50,000 tonnes. Industry sources said while talks between the two companies have been on for some time now, a deal is likely to be consummated within the next couple of months. The move to acquire JCT's capacity is widely being seen as part of Reliance's plan to raise its polyester capacity to more than 1 million tonnes annually. RIL had, in the previous year, announced its intention to raise its total polyester capacity in phases over the next three years through a combination of acquisitions, fresh capacity creation and de-bottlenecking of existing capacities. However, when contacted, a Reliance spokesperson pointed out that it was not the company's policy to 'comment on market speculations.' JCT Ltd, which is an M. M. Thapar group company, also has a nylon fibre yarn capacity of 8,000 tonnes in addition to a recognised suitings brand. The company, which is restructuring its activities, had earlier initiated discussions with the Polysindo group of Indonesia for the sale of its polyester plant based in Rajasthan. However, the talks fell through. The acquisition of JCT's polyester capacity by Reliance, if it does take place, would be the fifth such take-over in the polyester segment after the likes of producers like Raymond Synthetics, India Polyfibres, Orissa Synthetics and DCL Polyesters. While these acquisitions have made RIL a clear leader in the segment, its polyester yarn capacity alone has risen to 3.60 lakh tonnes from 3.20 lakh tonnes. With the addition of DCL's facilities, Reliance has become the fourth largest producer of polyester fibre yarn in the world and its local market share has risen over 38 per cent. Industry circles aver that with the increase in its capacity to more than 1 million tonnes, the company would command more than a 50 per cent share of the country's polyester market. A major advantage for RIL is that it is the only fully integrated producer with captive supplies of all key raw materials, including paraxylene, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and mono-ethylene glycol (MEG). The company now plans to bring about a corresponding increase in capacities of feedstocks such as PTA and MEG besides focusing on enhancing the production of speciality polyester products.