Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation plans to set up 1.48 lakh tonnes per annum nitric acid manufacturing facility at Dahej in Gujarat with an investment of ₹550 crore.
The project is scheduled to be completed by the second half of 2018.
Currently, the company has a manufacturing facility at Taloja in Maharashtra to produce 8.40 lakh tonnes per annum of nitric acid.
However, most of acid produced is used for captive purpose with only 1.60 lakh tonnes per annum made available for merchant sale.
Sailesh Mehta, Chairman, said the new facility would be the first step to develop a mega multi products site at Dahej which will cater to the growing demand of intermediates and specialty chemical manufacturers in India.
The company caters to dyes, defence, agrochemicals, nitro-aromatics and pharma sectors.
“Some of our key customers have already announced their expansion plans, and thus, we are expecting a rise in demand for nitric acid. We are aligning our expansion plans to the expected growth in our customers demand,” said Paresh Trivedi, President, Chemicals Business.
With most of Deepak Fertilizers manufacturing facilities including chemicals, TAN (Technical Ammonium Nitrate) and fertilizers are based in Maharashtra, this will be its maiden foray into Gujarat.
“In the recent past, there have been significant developments which have led to rise in nitric acid demand in the Gujarat region.
A manufacturing facility at Dahej will bring us closer to key customers,” said Trivedi.