Air Products announced that INOX Air Products Ltd., its joint venture in India, will invest over $50 million to construct two new air separation units (ASU) for the growing merchant industrial gas markets in West and South India. The company also announced INOX Air Products' signing of a new long-term industrial gas supply contract with Posco Maharashtra Steel Private Limited (PMSPL) for hydrogen and nitrogen for PMSPL's Phase 2 facility expansion in Maharashtra. The INOX Air Products facilities are all scheduled to come on stream between late 2012 and early 2013.

"These two important projects are a substantial next step in our efforts to extend our leadership position in the merchant industrial gases market in India. We continue to invest in these projects to ensure that we are in the best position to supply our customers with reliable, high quality and cost effective solutions for their industrial gas needs," said Pavan K. Jain, managing director of INOX Air Products. "Our repeat win at Posco is clear evidence that we are consistently delivering value for our customers."

INOX Air Products will build one of the ASUs to produce liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen in the state of Andhra Pradesh to serve a strong customer base in key manufacturing segments. This facility is strategically located close to the principal markets it will serve and will provide customers with enhanced security of industrial gas supply. This facility complements the four existing INOX Air Products industrial gas production facilities currently serving customers in Andhra Pradesh and the surrounding area.

INOX Air Products will build the second ASU for the merchant industrial gas market in Maharashtra. For over three decades, INOX Air Products has repeatedly shown its commitment to this region with significant investments in production facilities at five locations across Maharashtra. "INOX Air Products' investments are widely acknowledged to have provided unparalleled reliability of industrial gases supply to the diverse customer base in the region. What makes the investments even more enriching is the carry forward of the relationship, as most industries in Maharashtra have expanded to other regions and INOX Air Products has supplied them there as well," said Jain.

INOX Air Products will also supply two steam methane reformer (SMR) plants to provide hydrogen, and will provide nitrogen from the ASU at Maharashtra under a long term agreement for PMSPL's Phase 2 expansion. The two hydrogen plants represent the third and fourth such units to be supplied by INOX Air Products in India and demonstrate an unparalleled ability to cost effectively meet varied hydrogen requirements with an on-site production philosophy. Air Products' on-site hydrogen SMR product offers flows across a wide range of volume requirements with highly efficient use of natural gas.

"We have been very pleased with our engagement with INOX Air Products for our Phase 1 project. The customer focus they have shown has given us the full confidence that they will also successfully support our needs in this further expansion," said Mr. Jae Bong Kim, general manager of PMSPL.
In adding these two new hydrogen SMR facilities, which are based on product offerings from Air Products' PRISM gas generation portfolio, INOX Air Products' market presence in India continues to grow. In December 2010, the company announced four new merchant gases facilities and a long term on-site supply agreement for nitrogen and hydrogen with Saint Gobain Glass India in Rajasthan. These projects included three ASUs and an SMR from Air Products' PRISM gas generation portfolio.