“We are setting up a 855 tonnes per day air separation unit with a capacity to produce 200 tonnes of liquid products per day. We will have to invest about Rs 200 crores in the plant at Bellary in Karnataka. The new plant has been proposed after we were chosen as the preferred gas supplier for Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd for its expansion project. The term of the agreement is 15 years,” BOC India managing director Sanjiv Lamba said. BOC India has an edge over Praxair which is the current gas supplier to Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd.
BOC India is focusing on South India, which has witnessed a 12 per cent growth against the national average of eight per cent. The company is looking at pharma and oil and gas sectors for future growth. The steel sector contributes about two thirds to the company’s revenue.
BOC India, which is setting up another plant in Hyderabad, is planning to reduce its proposed capacity to about 100 tonnes per day from the earlier 190 tonnes.
The investment will be about Rs 45 crores. The company has also received a turn key contract of Rs 100 crores to build a 1,260 tonnes per day air separation unit. “The Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd contract will offer Rs 65 to 70 crores for a year of operation,” Mr Lamba said.
“The plant is expected to be commissioned by mid-2006. It will also help BOC India carry out open market sales in the south which is being served by the Jamshedpur facility,” he said.
Mr Lamba added that the company is keen to invest more for gas plants of Tata Steel to help the steel major meet its proposed expansion. “There is no proposal from the Tata group in this regard,” he clarified.
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