Tata Chemicals to expand capacity at Mithapur

Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) is  reportedly planning a massive expansion near its Mithapur chemical complex in Gujarat with an investment of  Rs700 – 1,000 crore. The company will be acquiring 600 acres of land near the existing facility of which 24 acres is wasteland given by governments while the rest will be acquired from private land holders at current market rates, according to government sources.

The company's existing facility currently has a capacity to produce 8.25 lakh tonnes of soda ash and about 5 lakh tonnes of salt annually. The company is planning a substantial ramp up of its capacity with the new facility.

The infrastructure for the facility is already in place with a 65 MW captive power plant and raw material and water availability.

The possibility of the expansion being partly undertaken for a glass manufacturing unit in Sanand is also being talked about in industry circles. The company has already  raised Rs1,000 crore for this unit. The glass from this unit will also be used for its Nano car, which has a glass component of 30 per cent of its surface area.

Soda ash is one of the basic raw materials in the manufacture of glass. With the acquisition of US-based General Chemicals in 2008, the company's overall soda ash capacity has touched 5.5 million tonnes, which makes it the second largest producer of soda ash in the world after Solvay.

Due to market dynamics, global soda ash prices have been relatively stable at around $270 - 300 a tonne, which is 10 per cent higher than a year ago. Further increase is expected in 2009 according industry sources.