Jan 7 2009
BOC India Limited, a member of The Linde Group, has signed a 15-year long term contract with Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) for supply of gases to meet the requirements of the planned expansion of their steel works. It proposes to invest nearly Rs 500 Crores in a new stateof-the-art air separation plant and ancilliary equipment which will not only meet the requirements of RSP but also meet the growing merchant demand for liquid products in eastern India.
As one of the integrated steel plants operated by Steel Authority of India (SAIL), RSP is undergoing an expansion of its facility. It will increase its steel production capacity to 3.2mtpa by adding a new blast furnace and converter. The expansion project also requires setting up Air Separation Units (ASU) to meet the incremental requirement of oxygen, nitrogen and argon. RSP had invited bids from major gas companies to install the ASUs on Build-Own-Operate (BOO) basis. BOC India were able to win the contract under competitive bidding with a unique solution to meet RSP’s demand and serve the growing merchant market in the region.
The contract envisages supply by BOC India to RSP of 2600 tonnes per day (TPD) of gases. BOCI will meet this requirement through the setting up of two Air Separation Units (ASUs). Besides meeting RSP’s requirement, BOC will produce additionally nearly 400tpd of liquid products including oxygen, nitrogen and argon to serve BOC’s markets in Orissa, and neighboring states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
The contract was signed at Rourkela on January 2nd between the Executive Director, Projects, RSP, Mr. S.S. Verma and Mr. S.K. Menon, Managing Director, BOC India Ltd. Commenting on the award of the gas supply contract, Mr. S N Singh, Managing Director, RSP remarked, “The supply of gases is critical to the operation of the iron and steel making furnaces, and the award of the oxygen plant contract is an important milestone for our expansion project. We look forward to a lasting relationship with BOC.”
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. SK Menon said “We were able to offer the most attractive product and service offer to RSP by fully realising synergies between RSP’s demand and our growing merchant liquid business. This contract is a milestone by virtue of being the largest and most competitive BOO gas supply contract awarded by SAIL so far.”
Mr Sanjiv Lamba, Regional Business Unit head for Linde’s South & East Asia business added, “This win at SAIL, Rourkela, is an integral part of our strategy to invest in India with premier customers. This contract takes us a step forward in further strengthening our long term relationship with SAIL which has been built over decades on the basis of mutual trust and partnership.” In 2007, BOCI had won a contract for supply and installation of a 700tpd ASU at RSP on outright sale basis which is currently under construction. In addition, BOC is also constructing two 750tpd ASUs for SAIL’s IISCO steel plant, and had previously supplied and commissioned a 550tpd ASU for Bhilai steel plant of SAIL in 1998.
The new plant is being designed by Linde’s Engineering Division with major items of plant and equipment being imported from Germany while project execution and local scope including civils, structurals, electrics and control systems will be overseen by the Project Engineering Division of BOCI.