Coromandel International, a part of the Murugappa Group, announced on Tuesday that it plans to invest Rs 400 crore in a new sulphuric acid plant at its fertiliser complex in Visakhapatnam. Coromandel International stated in a regulatory filing that the new sulphuric acid plant, worth Rs 400 crore, will have a capacity of 1,650 tonnes per day at the company's existing fertiliser complex in Visakhapatnam.
MECS (Monsanto Enviro-Chem Systems) and TKIS have also signed technical partnership agreements with the company (ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions).
"India is a net importer of sulphuric acid and the world's third largest importer, with almost 20 lakh tonnes imported. We have announced the construction of a new 1650 TPD sulphuric acid plant in Visakhapatnam, in keeping with our Prime Minister's Atmanirbhar Bharat vision for import substitution and the promotion of local manufacturing "Arun Alagappan, Executive Vice Chairman of Coromandel International, stated.
"Considering the critical significance of fertilisers, this investment would increase the country's self-sufficiency and supply of phosphatic fertilisers," Alagappan added.
The new sulphuric acid plant, for which the investment has been announced, will expand sulphuric acid production capacity by another 5 lakh tonnes per annum, bringing the total capacity to 11 lakh tonnes.
Coromandel's long-term goals of securing critical raw materials for fertiliser manufacture are being met with this investment.
Coromandel's Visakhapatnam manufacturing unit has a complex fertiliser production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year and a captive phosphoric acid production capacity of around 4 lakh tonnes per year.
The new sulphuric acid factory in Vizag will significantly reduce import dependence and secure long-term production of phosphatic acid, one of the most important raw ingredients in the creation of phosphatic fertilisers.
"We worked closely with Coromandel International Limited to ensure that the project's precise performance and emissions control were met in order to achieve the project's demanding environmental criteria and production goals."
MECS USA Global Licensing Manager Brian Blair commented, "We are excited to be part of a project that offers Coromandel with a state-of-the-art sulphuric acid plant with carbon free power generation and to be able to support it with our many decades of expertise in sulphuric acid plant technology."
