Praxair India signs major on-site contract

Bangalore, May 4 (UNI) Praxair India has won a major order from the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to build and operate an on-site industrial gas plant at the site of SAIL's steel plan in Durgapur, north of Kolkata.

Praxair India would build, own and operate a state-of-the-art cryogenic air separation plant with a capacity of 700 metric tonnes per day (MTPD) to meet SAIL's gaseous oxygen requirements. The plant, to be commissioned in early 2008, would also supply the growing demand for liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon from customers in eastern India after meeting SAIL's requirements, the company said in a release here.

''This contract with a major player in the Indian steel sector recognises Praxair's overall capabilities and high level of service and safety standards,'' the release said, quoting Praxair India Managing Director John Panikar.

Praxair India recently commissioned an 875 MTPD plant for Tata Steel at Jamshedpur. It had also executed a number of other major Indian projects including two 2,500 MTPD cryogenic oxygen plants for Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd. and additional plants for Kalyani Steels, Saint Gobain Glass India and Haldia Petrochemicals.

The company had also installed innovative non-cryogenic on-site plants for customers such as Usha Martin, Timken, Epcos Ferrites and Sundaram Fasteners.

Praxair India, headquartered at Bangalore, was the largest industrial gas producer in the country, with more than 35 operating locations and 2005 consolidated sales of US Dollars 120 million.

UNI VK RG SKB1952