BOC India Plans $52 Million Investment in Gas Projects by March 2009

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--BOC India Limited (BSE:523457) (Kolkata, West Bengal), a leading industrial gas supplier to steel units with more than 20 production facilities and a turnover of $29.5 million, has announced plans to invest $52 million in existing projects by March 2009. Linde AG (OTC:LNAGF) (Munich, Germany), a leading global gases and engineering company, has an 89.48% stake in BOC India. The German gas major will invest the committed $52 million in current gas units for steel plants. At the beginning of the year, Linde had promised to inject $125 into the ongoing projects.

Among the projects to receive funds is a 1,800 ton-per-day plant by JSW Steel Limited (BSE:500228) (Mumbai) in Bellary, Karnataka. The plant will supply gaseous oxygen, nitrogen and argon to a steel mill from a custom-built air separation unit. This will be BOC's largest plant in India and is likely to be operational by the end of this year. The company has already commissioned a 3,000-ton-per-year plant at the Bellary facility.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Mumbai) is planning to build a solar power project to generate energy from photovoltaic cells. BOC is in talks with Reliance Anil to be a part of this project to provide specialty gas to be used in photovoltaic cells. The project is still in the early stages, as Reliance Anil is in the process of evaluating the technology to produce solar energy at a large scale. The company was also recently scouting for locations in Gujarat to set up the proposed photovoltaic unit.

The global industrial gas market is slated to grow annually by 6.9% to $36.8 billion by 2011 with volume exceeding 300 billion cubic meters, according to research by the Freedonia Group. The U.S. is the leader in the industrial gas segment, closely followed by Japan and China. India ranks 18th but is expected to be among the top five nations by 2020, owing to its rapid growth in steel, chemicals, refining, gasification and pharmaceutical sectors. Increasing demand in other upcoming sectors, such as glass, oil, electronics, fiber optics and food preservation, is also expected to aid the growth of domestic industrial gas sector. BOC has a 25% market share in the country's industrial gas sector. Other key players include Air Liquide (EPA:AI) (Paris), Praxair Incorporated (NYSE:PX) (Danbury, Connecticut), and Air Products & Chemicals Incorporated (NYSE:APD) (Allentown, Pennsylvania).

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