BOC sets up plant in Hyderabad

Kolkata-based gases company BOC India Limited inaugurated its first merchant plant for the southern market in Hyderabad recently.

The new air separation unit (ASU) was expected in further consolidate the company's position in the region, it said in a release.

J N Sapru, chairman of BOC, inaugurated the plant.

At the inauguration, E R Raj Narayanan, managing director of BOC, said the plant part of the plan adopted by BOC to expand and enhance service to customers. This new plant was expected to help BOC to connect with the southern heartland and further strengthen its position in this region, he added. The investment was part of initiatives undertaken by BOC for India.

"The emerging predominance of the south in India's industrial development driven by an overall growth in various key sectors has boosted BOC's confidence to invest in this region," he added.

The Hyderabad investment was the first for BOC in a merchant ASU after almost 15 years. The cryogenic plant would produce liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon.

The basic and detailed design of the air pre-purification unit, cooling water system, electrical, instrumentation, design of product storage system and engineering at the ASU were developed in-house by BOC India's project engineering team.

The plant was fully auto-controlled through a distributed control system (DCS) which allowed minimal human interference.

A compact plant by design, it had footprint area of 150 metres by 100m for plant, storage and other utility systems.

It was built through the collaborative effort between BOC India and the BOC Group.

BOC India reported profit before taxes and extraordinary items of Rs 43 crore for the nine months ended December 31, 2005, up 34.86 per cent from the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The ASU at Medak in Andhra Pradesh was expected to give BOC a distinct cost advantage on liquid sourcing for the south India business.

BOC said its PGS business was under consolidation while its ISP site rationalisation plan was also progressing on schedule. The new BOC Chennai facility was recently commissioned. Work at Trichy and Pune sites had begun.

BOC India Limited was part of the BOC Group, a global industrial gases, vacuum and abatement technologies and distribution services company with two million customers in more than 50 countries, employing some 30,000 people and with annual sales of over £4.6 billion in 2005.