The technology group The Linde Group recently announced it will build and commission a state-of-the-art 2,550 tonnes per day (tpd) air separation unit (ASU) at Tata Steel Ltd's plant in Jamshedpur, India. Once commissioned in early 2012, this will be the largest air separation plant in India and one of Linde's largest in Asia. In addition, Linde is also investing in a new merchant air separation plant in Maharashtra that will produce nearly 500 tpd of liquid products to meet the growing demands of industry in the western region of the country.

The new ASU will cater to Tata Steel's current expansion of its world-class steel making facility in Jamshedpur, which will increase the plant's steel making capacity to 10 million tonnes a year. As part of the agreement, Linde will also acquire and operate three existing ASU owned by Tata Steel for the supply of gases to their Jamshedpur works.

"This investment, which further deepens our solid relationship with Tata, is an example of our strong commitment to India," said Dr Aldo Belloni, member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. "The importance of the Indian market is also reflected in our rapidly growing engineering capability in Baroda and Kolkata. Our comprehensive engineering solutions put us in a good position to meet the growing needs of steel makers, refineries and petrochemical plants in India."

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