Praxair lines up Rs900-1,200 crore spend in 2012

Praxair, Inc, Connecticut, US-based industrial and specialty gases supplier, will be spending about $200 million, or Rs923 crore, in 2012 on setting up new facilities in India, said the managing director of its Indian arm, Asit Gangopadhyay.

The planned capex is nearly one-third of Praxir India’s investment in capacity creation in its 13-year existence.

The company, whose capex for the current year is $180 million, may spend another Rs300 crore next year if it bags a project in the next few months.

Praxair makes gases such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and argon for various industries including metals, energy and pharma.

“About 60% of our business comes from steel. We set up our facilities at or adjacent to our clients’ plants,” Gangopadhyay said.
Praxair invests in these facilities, of which there are 17 in India, and has 15-20 year agreements with its clients to supply gases.

“We can sell the surplus gas from these plants in the merchant market, for instance, to hospitals,” he said.

Praxair is putting up its first plant dedicated to a merchant market near Kalyan.

It is also setting up a hydrogen and a nitrogen plant for the IOC refinery at Paradip in Orissa. “The hydrogen facility has a capacity of 90 mmscfd (million metric standard cubic feet per day) and will be Asia’s first on-site hydrogen plant,” Gangopadhyay said.

Praxair, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, reported global revenues of $10 billion in 2010, to which Asia contributed 10%.

Gangopadhyay said Praxair India accounted for 30% of the Asia business, which puts its topline last year at $300 million.

“We have seen a CAGR of 16-18% in the last five years and we are confident that this rate of growth will continue for another five years,” he said.