Linde will build, own, and operate a new 1,000 tonnes per day air separation unit (ASU) in Rourkela, India, as part of an extended long-term industrial gas supply agreement with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
The industrial gas giant announced today (25th January) that it has extended its existing long-term agreement with SAIL, one of India’s largest steel-making companies.
Linde already supplies the company’s Rourkela steel plant in Odisha, eastern India, with oxygen, nitrogen and argon that is produced from two on-site ASUs, which are operating at full capacity.
The new ASU, expected to come online in 2026, takes the partnership one step further and will support SAIL’s expansion and modernisation programme at Rourkela. The investment is expected to be approximately $60m.
As well as supplying SAIL, the new ASU will also supply industrial gases to Linde’s existing and new local merchant customers in the region.
Moloy Banerjee, President of ASEAN & South Asia at Linde, said the company looks forward to supporting SAIL’s expansion.
He continued, “This investment will also enhance Linde’s local network density in Odisha, enabling us to meet demand for industrial gases in one of the fastest-growing regions in India.”
n August 2023, it was announced that Linde had won an order to install a 1,000 tonnes per day cryogenic oxygen plant in Rourkela, Odisha, as part of a deal with SAIL.
The agreement also included a provision for renewables for a further period of five years, based on mutual agreement.
Equipped with a production capacity of 4.5 million tonnes per annum of hot metal, 4.2 million tonnes per annum of crude steel, and 3.9 million tonnes per annum of saleable steel, the Rourkela Steel Plant was founded in 1955 and is India’s first fully integrated steel plant.