From supplying gases like liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon mostly to steel and fertiliser plants and hospitals, BOC India is now diversifying the kind of gases it makes.
While foray in supplying hydrogen to the refinery sector has just been made following winning of a contract from HPCL Mittal Energy, the Kolkata-based arm of Linde AG, is also mulling getting into supply of carbon dioxide whose major consumers are carbonated soft drink makers, managing director Srikumar Menon said.
Emerging opportunities in new-age fuels like coal gasification are also being explored with the government already kick-starting the process to implement such a project in some of Coal India's mines.
“Your company plans to diversify in a phased manner into other gases such as hydrogen, helium and carbon dioxide, which have good potential to support the growth in gases business. Besides, BOC has aggressive plans to leverage Linde's gas-based applications technology and has set up an application business development team to drive this growth strategy in India,” BOC said in its directors’ report in its annual report.
“With the freeing-up of petro-product pricing, there is an increasing trend among petroleum refineries now to go for outsourcing of their hydrogen and nitrogen requirements and would prefer someone else to invest in the plant and machinery, and that is where we come in. We are currently talking to almost all oil companies like IOC, HPCL and BPCL for such opportunities,” Menon told reporters after the annual general meeting of the company.
BOC has been following such a business model for the steel sector for which it runs air separation units on built-own-operate basis and from where it derives 50% of revenues.
Three air separation plants for clients like Tata Steel, SAIL, Jindal Stainless and Visa Steel would become ready for commissioning in the early 2012.
“The investment in these plants combined is about Rs. 1,200 crore, of which about 30-40% is yet to be put in,” Menon said. BOC is also keen to set up an air separation plant for JSW’s proposed steel plant at Salboni in West Bengal.
“We are in discussion with them and interested in doing business in Salboni but the Jindals are yet to finalise machinery supplies for this project,” he said.
Linde AG, BOC’s German parent, has one-and-a-half years’ time to comply with The Securities and Exchange Board of India directive to either delist the company from Indian bourses by buying out the minority shareholding of 10.52% or alternatively bring down promoters’ holding to a maximum of 75%, Menon said. The parent group’s offer, via BOC Group, along with Linde Holdings Netherlands BV and Linde Finance BV, to delist the company failed in February due to poor response.
“As per regulations, 50% of balance shareholders must agree to tender their shares, which didn’t happen so the offer was withdrawn,” Menon said.
Linde might decide to keep BOC India as a listed entity as there is no pressing need for it to spend money for buying out the small shareholders, an official of BOC, who was present at the meeting but did not want to be identified, said.
While foray in supplying hydrogen to the refinery sector has just been made following winning of a contract from HPCL Mittal Energy, the Kolkata-based arm of Linde AG, is also mulling getting into supply of carbon dioxide whose major consumers are carbonated soft drink makers, managing director Srikumar Menon said.
Emerging opportunities in new-age fuels like coal gasification are also being explored with the government already kick-starting the process to implement such a project in some of Coal India's mines.
“Your company plans to diversify in a phased manner into other gases such as hydrogen, helium and carbon dioxide, which have good potential to support the growth in gases business. Besides, BOC has aggressive plans to leverage Linde's gas-based applications technology and has set up an application business development team to drive this growth strategy in India,” BOC said in its directors’ report in its annual report.
“With the freeing-up of petro-product pricing, there is an increasing trend among petroleum refineries now to go for outsourcing of their hydrogen and nitrogen requirements and would prefer someone else to invest in the plant and machinery, and that is where we come in. We are currently talking to almost all oil companies like IOC, HPCL and BPCL for such opportunities,” Menon told reporters after the annual general meeting of the company.
BOC has been following such a business model for the steel sector for which it runs air separation units on built-own-operate basis and from where it derives 50% of revenues.
Three air separation plants for clients like Tata Steel, SAIL, Jindal Stainless and Visa Steel would become ready for commissioning in the early 2012.
“The investment in these plants combined is about Rs. 1,200 crore, of which about 30-40% is yet to be put in,” Menon said. BOC is also keen to set up an air separation plant for JSW’s proposed steel plant at Salboni in West Bengal.
“We are in discussion with them and interested in doing business in Salboni but the Jindals are yet to finalise machinery supplies for this project,” he said.
Linde AG, BOC’s German parent, has one-and-a-half years’ time to comply with The Securities and Exchange Board of India directive to either delist the company from Indian bourses by buying out the minority shareholding of 10.52% or alternatively bring down promoters’ holding to a maximum of 75%, Menon said. The parent group’s offer, via BOC Group, along with Linde Holdings Netherlands BV and Linde Finance BV, to delist the company failed in February due to poor response.
“As per regulations, 50% of balance shareholders must agree to tender their shares, which didn’t happen so the offer was withdrawn,” Menon said.
Linde might decide to keep BOC India as a listed entity as there is no pressing need for it to spend money for buying out the small shareholders, an official of BOC, who was present at the meeting but did not want to be identified, said.
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