The city-based industrial gases specialist BOC India today said it will raise Rs 780 crore through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) by the next fiscal to fund its capital expenditure, particularly to execute projects for SAIL and Tata Steel.
"The loan will be basically given by our parent, Linde Group AG, as an inter-corporate loan which would be treated as an ECB," Managing Director S K Menon told reporters on the sidelines of the AGM here today.
BOC started India operations way back in 1935 as Indian Oxygen and Acetylene Company. It has since evolved into a subsidiary of the Munich, Germany-based Linde Group, and today has more than 20 production facilities, including one of Asia's largest air separation units. Today BOC supplies over 20,000 gases and mixtures, which make steel plants more efficient, help conserve the environment.
BOC's main activity include installation and testing of vacuum insulated cryogenic storage vessels, high pressure gas bullets, flow monitoring and control schemes, pressure reducing and boosting stations and gas pipelines, according to the information posted on its Wedsite.
BOC's total capital expenditure till 2012 calendar year could be Rs 1,500 crore and the company has got shareholders approval to raise so much money. The capex would be utilised to execute air-separation units for a few companies.
The company will build and commission a state-of-the-art 2550 tonne per day (tpd) air separation unit at the Tata Steel plant in Jamshedpur. Once commissioned in early 2012, it would be the largest air separation plant in the country and one of Linde’s largest in Asia.
Total investment in the unit would be Rs 600 crore which would take Linde’s total investment in the country over the last three years to around Rs 2,000 crore.
BOC will also execute other air separation unit woth a 400 tpd plant for Jindal Steel and Power and two plants of 855 tpd capacity each at the SAIL's Rourkela plant. These apart, BOC would also invest in merchant oxygen plants with aggregate capacity of 600 tpd by 2012, Menon said.