The Hindu Business Line : Tata Chemicals to hike urea, soda ash production capacity

Expansion plans: Mr Balvinder Singh Kalsi (left), CEO & President, DuPont India, and Mr Homi Khusrokhan, Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Ltd, in the Capital on Monday at a meeting on contribution by chemical industry for global inclusive growth. —

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Dec. 17 Tata Chemicals has said that as part of its de-bottlenecking plans, the company will be increasing its urea production capacity to 1.2 million tonnes per annum by September 2008. Currently it produces 0.875 mt of urea per annum.

“As part of our de-bottlenecking exercise, we are looking at taking our urea production capacity to 1.2 mt per annum by September next year,” the Managing Director, Mr Homi R. Khusrokhan, said here on the sidelines of a CII summit on Monday.

He also said that the company would increase its soda-ash production capacity to 1.2 mt per annum from the present 0.864 mt per annum in the next two years.

Kenyan unit

It also hopes that the soda-ash plant in Kenya would operate on full capacity by May-June next year.

“Currently we are utilising 60 per cent of our installed capacity in Kenya and we expect to have full stream operations by May-June next year. We may also consider expanding its capacity by another 15 to 20 per cent after June next year,” he added.

Tata Chemicals is also planning to set up its bioethanol refinery with a capacity of 30 kl per day, much lower than the norm of 100 kl per day. The company has also bid for running sick sugar units in Bihar.

“If we get control of those mills, they will eventually be used for expanding ethanol capacity,” Mr Khusrokhan said.

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