Linde commissions ASU in Punjab; doubles capacity in northern India

Linde Indiahas started up an air separation unit (ASU) in Ludhiana, Punjab, more thandoubling its total merchant capacity in the region.

The planthas a capacity of 250 metric tonnes per day, producing oxygen, nitrogen, andargon, and is located inside the Hi-Tech Cycle Valley Park at Dhanansu.

Nowoperational, the ASU will help meet the growing demand for medical oxygen,industrial oxygen, nitrogen, and argon from a wide range of customers in theregion.

Specifically,it will benefit end-user markets across healthcare, semiconductor, steel,metals, pharmaceutical, paper, automative, and manufacturing.

AbhijitBanerjee, Managing Director of Linde India, said the plant marks another steptowards making the region self-reliant for industrial gases.

He added,“Linde India’s investment in Ludhiana aligns with our strategy to consolidateour network in high growth regions. Punjab is the epicentre for multiplesectors, and this investment was well supported by the government through its‘Invest Punjab’ initiative.”

Theinvestment marks Linde’s second merchant plant in northern India, with theother being location at Selaqui, Uttarakhand.

According to gasworld BusinessIntelligence, Linde’s ASU in Selaqui started operations in 2010 and producesaround 125 tones of oxygen and nitrogen per day, in addition to six tonnes ofargon per day.

Last month(September 2024), Linde India entered into a plant sale agreement with TataSteel to buy two 1,800 tonnes per day ASUs from the company’s KalinganagarPhase 2 expansion project.

The decisionfollowed a competitive bidding process to find a reliable partner to manage theplant’s ASUs. The ASUs are crucial for producing industrial gases such asoxygen, nitrogen and argon, which are essential for steel manufacturingprocesses, including oxygen steelmaking.

Source: gasworld