Ellenbarrie promoters re-acquire 51% stake from Japanese firm Air Water
Ellenbarrie Industrial Gases is setting up a manufacturing facility in Kurnool with an investment of ₹250 crore that will double the industrial and medical gas firm’s capacity and help cater to the growing demand from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
A greenfield project, it will make aragon, nitrogen and oxygen, said Varun Agarwal, Executive Director. The plant capacity will be 600 tonnes a day or as much as the firm has across facilities in West Bengal, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad at present. While demand for medical oxygen has come down after the surge during second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, that for industrial gases is on the rise. Pharmaceutical industry in particular is driving the demand by setting up new units.
Also, many hospitals who were meeting their requirement from the unorganised sector, primarily distributors, are keen on tying up with large firms to ensure reliability in supplies, Mr.Agarwal said, in an interaction following Ellenbarrie announcement on the Kurnool plant as well as on the firm’s promoters re-acquiring 51% stake from a Japanese firm.
Work on Kurnool plant has commenced and the facility is expected to go on stream in the second half of 2022. It will cater to growing clientele in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, the company said in a release. Ellenbarrie said it was expanding the manufacturing portfolio by adding a high-purity Hydrogen plant in Uluberia, West Bengal.
100% Indian firm
The firm said the promoters have re-acquired 51% stake from Japanese industrial gases conglomerate Air Water, for an undisclosed sum, thus making “Ellenbarrie the largest 100% Indian-owned industrial and medical gas company, in a space dominated by multinational companies.” The Agarwala family in 2013 had sold 51% stake to Air Water. Ellenbarrie said it has also retired all its borrowings and remains a debt-free company.
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