Linde to construct two major air separation units in India for Tata Steel

Technology company The Linde Group will be constructing two major air separation units at the Kalinganagar industrial complex in Odisha, India, for one of the world's largest steel manufacturers, Tata Steel Limited. Linde will be investing EUR 80 million in this project. The two companies recently signed an agreement to this effect. The air separation units are part of a long-term, on-site gases supply contract for a new integrated steelworks that Tata is currently building in Kalinganagar.

Each of the two new air separation plants will be capable of producing 1,200 tonnes of air gases per day. Once they go on stream in 2014, the units will supply gaseous oxygen, nitrogen and argon to the steelworks that Tata Steel is currently building. They will also produce liquid gases for the regional market. In a further step, Linde intends to lay an extensive network of pipelines at the Kalinganagar industrial complex in order to supply other steel producers with industrial gases in the future.

Tata's new blast furnace based steel plant is also set to go on stream in 2014. It will initially produce three million tonnes of steel per year. The company aims to increase capacity in the medium term to 12 million tonnes per year. The new steelworks is the first production facility of its kind to be built in India in 15 years.

© Eurasian chemical market, 2005-2013