India’s Nirma eyes chlor-alkali start-up in Q1 2009

30 September 2008 13:54 [Source: ICIS news]

NEW DELHI (ICIS news)--India’s Nirma Limited has delayed the commissioning of its chlor-alkali plant at Bhavnagar in Gujarat until February 2009, a company source said on Tuesday.

It had originally planned to start the plant in May 2008. The source did not specify the reasons for delay in start-up.

The company is setting up the plant with capacity to produce 240 tonnes/day of caustic soda in technical collaboration with Germany’s Uhde. The detailed engineering of the Indian rupees (Rs)1.7bn ($36m) plant was done by Uhde India Limited.

Nirma has already compared the Rs1.bn pure water plant which would serve chlor-alkali plant. The pure water plant has been set up with process technology from the Netherlands’ Akzo Nobel.

The company is also at an advanced stage of completing a Rs1bn captive power plant with 23 megawatts of capacity. This plant would use domestic lignite as fuel.

Nirma also manufactures soda ash, linear alkyl benzene (LAB), fatty acid, glycerine, alpha olefin sulphate, intravenous fluids, sulphuric acid, single superphosphate and detergents at different locations in Gujarat.

It last year acquired US natural soda ash companies Searles Valley Minerals (SVM) and Searles Valley Minerals Operations, collectively known as SVM.

($1 = Rs46.50)

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By: Naresh Minocha
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