Coromandel International to set up sulphuric acid plant at Vishakhapatnam

Aligned with the Government of India’s mission of making the country self-reliant, this plant shall help reduce import dependency by increasing the availability of phosphatic fertiliser.

Coromandel International Limited, an Indian company engaged in the business of fertilizers, pesticides and speciality nutrients, announced today that it has commenced setting up a new sulphuric acid plant at its fertiliser complex in Visakhapatnam.

The company has also entered into technology partnership agreements with MECS (Monsanto Enviro-Chem Systems) and TKIS (ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions). 

This plant shall incur a cost of Rs 400 crore and have a designed capacity of 1650 metric tons per day. It is being set up within the company’s existing Visakhapatnam plant premises and on par with global best technology standards to control emissions. The design of the plant is such that the steam generated from the process shall also be used for captive power generation. This development is aligned with the company’s s long term objective of securing key raw materials for its fertiliser production.

How significant is this development?

Looking at the statistics, India is a net importer of sulphuric acid and the third-largest importer globally. It accounts for approximately 20 lakh metric tons of imports. While the company has a sulphuric acid production capacity of 6 lakh metric tons per annum, the new plant shall further enhance the capacity by 5 lakh metric tons per annum, bringing the total production capacity to 11 lakh metric tons per annum. Thus, the new plant shall help reduce the import dependence considerably and ensure sustainable production of Phosphoric acid, which is one of the key raw materials for phosphatic fertiliser manufacturing.

At the closing bell on Tuesday, the share price of Coromandel International Limited was trading at Rs 800.4, which was an increase of 0.67 per cent from the previous day’s closing price of Rs 795.05 on BSE.