INOX Air Products Joint Venture in India Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary

MUMBAI, India, Jan. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products APD joint venture (JV) in India today marked a major milestone as INOX Air Products Pvt Ltd. celebrates 20 successful years of business in India. The milestone marks one of the longest-lasting Indo-American JVs in India. The achievement comes at a time when the JV recently brought onstream the first of six liquefiers which will serve the growing onsite and merchant liquid industrial gases market in India.  

"I am exceptionally proud to celebrate this 20-year anniversary with our partners, the Jain Family.  INOX Air Products is one of our company's most successful joint ventures.  We have had a thriving presence in India for two decades and the future prospects, for both the JV and Air Products, are very encouraging with the projected growth of the economy in the country, and along with it the increased use of industrial gases," said Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Air Products.

"It has been truly an exciting journey working with our partners at Air Products, having grown INOX Air Products significantly over the past 20 years by leveraging our combined strengths. As India becomes the world's fastest growing economy, the future holds great potential for the JV as we continue to invest in expanding our network capacity to support the growing manufacturing sector," said Pavan Jain, Chairman and Managing Director at INOX Air Products.

The anniversary is highlighted by the JV's current project, which entails bringing on six industrial gas liquefiers to serve the growing onsite and merchant liquid industrial gas market in India.  The first liquefier is already onstream and the remaining five will be brought onstream over the next year. The six plants, with a $100 million-plus combined investment, will have a total production capacity of over 1,200 metric tonnes per day (TPD) of liquid product.

The partnership started in 1999 when Air Products acquired a 50 percent equity stake in Industrial Oxygen Company Ltd. and became an equal joint venture partner with the Jain Family. Through a series of strategic acquisitions that began in the year 2000 and culminated in the year 2015 with that of ESSAR Steel's 5,100 TPD air separation unit, the joint venture partnership quickly established leadership positions in the onsite, merchant and packaged gas businesses.

Over the past two decades, INOX Air Products has continued to invest ahead of the curve by enhancing its capacity, geographical reach and technological capabilities thereby consolidating its position as one of the largest integrated industrial gases players with a national footprint. Throughout its history, INOX Air Products has earned a reputation for developing and growing leadership positions in the merchant industrial gases market in India and has continued to apply its engineering and technological know-how to deliver a wide portfolio of customized solutions for its diversified customer base.

Today, INOX Air Products has more than 40 operating locations and 1,200 employees throughout India and is one of largest manufacturers and suppliers of industrial and medical gases including: oxygen, nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and specialty gas mixtures throughout the country. The company specializes in providing products, technologies and services to a vast cross-section of industries including the chemical, pharmaceutical, metals, steel, food, wastewater treatment, cement, glass, textiles, paint, medical and pulp and paper sectors, among other markets. It is also the largest supplier of gases to the healthcare segment nationally.

About Air Products
Air Products APD is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 75 years. The company provides industrial gases and related equipment to dozens of industries, including refining, chemical, metals, electronics, manufacturing, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the world's leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The Company had fiscal 2018 sales of $8.9 billion from operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of about $35 billion. Approximately 16,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

About INOX Air Products
Headquartered in Mumbai, INOX Air Products is Air Products' joint venture in India. The company has more than 40 operating locations and 1,200 employees throughout India.

INOX Air Products Ltd manufactures and supplies industrial gases including oxygen, nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and speciality gas mixtures throughout India. The company specialises in providing products, technologies and services to a vast cross-section of industries including the chemical, pharmaceutical, metals, steel, food, waste water treatment, cement, glass, textiles, paint, medical and pulp and paper sectors, to name but a few. INOX Air Products Ltd is a joint venture company owned jointly by the Jain family (former owners of the Industrial Oxygen Company) and Air Products.

Air Products in India
Since 2009, Air Products has expanded its industrial gas operations and supply presence in India as an engineering company. From an engineering center based in Pune, the company provides technology and equipment for air separation, hydrogen generation and associated technologies for industrial gases applications.

In 2018, Air Products signed a long-term agreement with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) to build, own and operate a new syngas production facility at the BPCL Kochi Refinery in India. Air Products already operates a world-scale industrial gas complex which was commissioned in 2017 to support the BPCL Integrated Refinery Expansion Project at the same location. For more information, visit www.airproducts.in.

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2018.

SOURCE Air Products