Deepak Fertilisers Gujarat nitric acid facility in Gujarat starts operations

Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (DFPCL) Monday said it has started commercial production of nitric acid at Dahej facility in Gujarat, which has been set up with an investment of about Rs 550 crore. The new facility has a production capacity of around 92 KTPA (kilo tonnes per annum) for concentrated nitric acid (CNA) and about 149 KTPA for diluted nitric acid (DNA).

Nitric acid in different grades is used in nitroaromatics, pharmaceuticals, dyes, steel rolling industry, defence and explosives industries. DFPCL is now the second largest manufacturer of nitric acid in Asia, having the largest integrated nitric acid plants with a combined capacity of about 1.07 million tonnes per annum at Taloja and Dahej.

"Our plant is strategically located in the vicinity of large consumers of CNA which produces Nitroaromatics for speciality chemicals. "The company has tied up for about 70 per cent of the CNA volumes to ensure stable margins and regular offtakes from this facility. We are very confident about the overall performance of the plant and expect it to make a meaningful contribution from its first year of operation," Sailesh C Mehta, CMD, DFPCL, said.

Set up in 1979 as an ammonia manufacturer, DFPCL is a publicly listed, multi-product conglomerate with a multi-product portfolio spanning industrial chemicals, bulk and speciality fertilisers, technical ammonium nitrate and real estate.