Praxair To Hike Investments In India To $200 Million
US gas major Praxair Inc will be increasing investment in India to a total of $200 million.
The company which has major supply contracts with SJK Steel, Swil Copper and Kalyani Steel plans to invest as much as $125 million by the end of 1998.
Edgar G Hotard, president and director of Praxair told Business Standard that the company's total investment till date stands at around $65 million.
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"Our objective is to help the Indian industry improve productivity and quality and at the same time be environmentally friendly", said Hotard.
The company recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with French glass company, Stgobain. " Stgobain is planning to enter India very soon," said Hotard.
He further said that Praxair is considering tie-ups with Indian gas companies and is currently in dialogue with a number of them.
Hotard, however, was unwilling to divulge their names. The company's Indian subsidiary, Praxair India Ltd, headquartered in Bangalore, last year won a contract, outbidding Indian rivals BOC India, for making an air suppression plant for Jindal Vijaynagram Steel.
The company also formed a joint venture with Jindal to implement the project and currently holds 76 per cent in the joint venture.
The plant's total project cost is around Rs 410 crore.
However, the project has suffered a set-back due to the tribal agitation in the area.
Last year, the Aditya Birla Group company, Hindustan Gas and Industries, sold its stake to Praxair India.
In April this year, the company secured a Rs 50 crore build own operate (BOO) project to supply industrial gases to Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.
The capacity of the plant is 260 tonnes of high purity nitrogen per day. The plant is scheduled to be operational by 1999. This is Praxair India's first pipe-line supply scheme for the Indian petrochemical market.
"We are looking for new opportunities in India and we are confident that the Indian economy will continue to grow" said Hotard.
He further said that West Bengal alone provides immense opportunities for the company. Currently the company has secured several merchant liquid contracts in the market.
At the moment, as far as the Indian market goes, BOC India is still the market leader with over 35 per cent of the total merchant market share.
But the global market has BOC and Praxair, running neck to neck, controlling 16 per cent of the global market share.
Our objective is to help the industry improve quality and at the same time be environmentally friendly -- E G Hotard president & director Praxair