New Delhi, Mar 27 (IANS): INOX Air Products (INOXAP), Indias largest manufacturer of industrial and medical gas, has announced that it has been awarded a prestigious contract for setting up its sixth air separation unit (ASU) at the Hazira unit of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) – a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, two of the worlds leading steelmakers.

The ASU will have the capacity to produce 1000 tonnes per day of Gaseous Oxygen and 1000 tonnes per day of Gaseous Nitrogen, besides other liquid medical and industrial gases. The ASU in Gujarat will be commissioned within a time span of 23 months.

INOXAP's currently operational five ASUs at the AM/NS India's Hazira facility make it India's largest onsite industrial gas complex with a combined capacity to produce 9000 TPD of industrial gases. The commissioning of the sixth ASU would scale up the combined capacity of the industrial gas complex to 11,100 TPD.

Speaking about the development, Siddharth Jain, Director, INOX Air Products, said, "The contract for setting up the sixth ASU at AM/NS India's Hazira facility is a unique distinction accorded to us, recognising our reliability, commitment and consistency in delivering high-quality product and services. It is indeed a matter of immense pride for us to be an integral part of AM/NS India's growth plans.

"We are buoyed with the prospect of further scaling up the capacity of India's largest onsite industrial gas complex. We are committed to ensure that our capex plan fructifies in a productive manner, and stays on course to deliver upon its objective of augmenting the growth of India's infrastructure and manufacturing sectors and push our country closer to its vision of a $5 trillion economy within the next few fiscals."

Wim Van Gerven, Director and Vice President (Operations), AM/NS India, said "We are pleased to partner with INOX Air Products on further expansion of India's largest onsite industrial gas production complex. This project will play an important role in supporting AM/NS India's ongoing steel manufacturing expansion programme at Hazira, aided by our mission to create Smarter Steels for Brighter Futures. This initiative will also strengthen our commitment to contribute to India's growth story."

INOXAP's long-term, onsite gas supply partnership with AM/NS India began in 2005, when the erstwhile Essar Steel awarded a contract for a 885 TPD Cryogenic ASU on BOO basis.

This relationship achieved newer heights when INOXAP was chosen as a preferred partner to outsource the majority of its captive ASUs, resulting in INOXAP acquiring all three ASU assets of 1,700 TPD capacity each from Essar Steel in 2015 and entered into a long-term contract for supply of all industrial gases on a BOO basis.

In 2022, INOXAP gave the partnership a new dimension of speed and precision by commissioning the fifth ASU at the Hazira site in a record time, creating new global benchmark in the industrial gas industry.

INOXAP has been servicing the needs of the Indian steel industry for close to five decades now. As an integrated industrial gas supplier, INOXAP offers efficient solutions, including application technology in areas like BF Enrichment, EAF O2 Lancing, Ladle Furnace Pre–Heating (Oxy– Fuel Burners), RHF Enrichment, Argon Oxygen De-carburization, Oxy–Fuel Assisted Melting and Molten Metal Blanketing (MMB) in Induction Furnace, and supplies of industrial gases for the same, either through on-site ASUs or through bulk supplies from its 47 plants across the country.