Caustic Soda Manufacturers in India

Caustic Soda Manufacturers in India

Caustic soda is an inorganic bulk chemical, strongly alkaline, and odorless having applications in various fields. It occurs in liquid form which is called Caustic Soda lye & solid form which is called Flakes or pellets.

It has applications in pulp and paper manufacturing, viscose yarn, staple fiber, aluminum, textiles; soaps & detergent etc.

Increasing demand from the textile and alumina sectors is expected to drive India’s Caustic Soda demand.

The Caustic Soda Market Scenario

The installed capacity of Caustic Soda in the country is about 4.76 million MTPA as of March 2022. The total installed capacity of 4.76 million MTPA is based on Membrane Cell Technology. The Membrane Cell process is energy efficient, as the power requirement is much less. The required power is in the range of 2150-2200 kwh/MT as compared to Mercury Cell’s 3150-3300 kwh/MT.

India is a surplus in Caustic Soda production volumes with most of the plants operating at around 80-85% efficiency. However, the increase in cheaper imports has forced domestic manufacturers to curtail their margins. This was predominantly due to the high input and logistics costs involved within the country.

Major end-use industries of India Caustic Soda are chemical industries, textile, alumina, pulp & paper, soap & detergent, and others.

Following is the list of the top caustic soda manufacturers in India by production capacity.

Grasim Industries Limited

  • Grasim Industries Limited is the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group. It started as a textile manufacturer in India in 1947. Today, it is a leading global player in VSF and the largest chemicals (Chlor-Alkali-s) player in India.
  • The company is the largest caustic soda manufacturer in India with significant integration and a capacity of 1,147,000 MTPA. Its largest end-consumers are alumina, textiles, and others. Its net sales in Caustic Soda surpassed the 1-million-tonne in FY2021-22.
  • The company acquired chloralkali facility of KPR Industries at Balabhadrapuram in Andhra Pradesh increasing its capacity from 1,147,000 MTPA to 1,457,000 MTPA by FY21.
  • Grasim is also making investments in expanding the production of chlorine value-added products. Chlorine, a chemical produced as a by-product during production of caustic soda adds to its overall revenue.

DCM Shriram

  • DCM Shriram Ltd. is a leading business conglomerate with a business portfolio comprising primarily of agri chemicals and chloro vinyl business (Caustic Soda, Chlorine, Calcium Carbide, Aluminium Chloride, PVC Resins, PVC Compounds, Power and Cement).
  • DCM Shriram’s Chlor-Alkali (Chemicals) business comprises Caustic Soda (Lye and flakes), Chlorine and associated chemicals including Hydrochloric acid, Stable Bleaching powder, Aluminium Chloride, Compressed Hydrogen and Sodium Hypochlorite.
  • The Company has two manufacturing facilities located at Kota (Rajasthan) and Bharuch (Gujarat) with full coal based. captive power.
  • DCM Shriram has a total caustic soda capacity of 669,000 MT per annum. The company’s caustic soda capacity at Bharuch is 478,000 MTPA and at Kota is 191,000 MTPA.

Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals

  • Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL) was established in 1973 and over a period of time, it has emerged as one of the largest producers of Caustic Soda in India.
  •  Its present installed production capacity of Caustic Soda is 412,500 MTPA as on 31st March, 2022 and enjoys economies of scale.
  • GACL was the first Indian company to replace the Mercury Cell Technology with environment friendly and energy efficient Membrane Technology way back in the year 1989.
  • The company has about 13% share in the domestic Caustic Soda market.
  • During the FY 2021-22, GACL has produced 458,000 MT against the installed capacity of 412,000 MTPA and achieved capacity utilization of 110%.

Meghamani Finechem

  • Meghmani Finechem Limited (MFL) founded in year 2007, is a leading chemical manufacturer with backward and forward integration facilities.
  • MFL has state of art fully automated production facility for manufacturing of Caustic Soda at GIDC Dahej, Gujarat.
  • The company has a total caustic soda capacity of 293,000 MT per annum.
  • In Sep, 2022, MFL announced the commissioning of an additional 106,000 TPA capacity of Caustic Soda with a captive power plant of 36 MW. After the expansion, MFL will have 400,000 TPA of Caustic Soda capacity with a captive power plant of 132 MW.

Reliance O2C

  • Reliance Oil to Chemicals (O2C) business is a segment of Reliance Industries limited. The Oil to Chemicals (O2C) business portfolio spans across transportation fuels, polymers and elastomers, intermediates and polyesters. The O2C business includes world-class assets comprising refinery, crackers and downstream assets.
  • RIL O2C business includes plants and manufacturing assets located in India at Jamnagar, Hazira, Dahej, Nagothane, Vadodara Patalganga, Silvassa, Barabanki.
  • RIL O2C at its integrated chlor-alkali plant in Dahej, Gujarat has a capacity of 168,000 MPTA for caustic soda production as a by-product.

Chemplast Sanmar

  • Chemplast Sanmar is part of the SHL Chemicals Group, which in turn is a constituent of the Sanmar Group, one among the oldest and most prominent corporate groups in South India.
  • It is a major manufacturer of Speciality Chemicals such as Specialty Paste PVC resin and Custom Manufactured Chemicals for agro-chemical, pharmaceutical and fine chemicals sector. The company also produces other chemicals such as Caustic Soda, Chlorochemicals, Hydrogen Peroxide, Refrigerant gas and Industrial Salt.
  • The manufacturing facilities are located at Mettur, Berigai and Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
  • The company has four chemical divisions:
    • Specialty Paste PVC Resin division – its operations began in May 1967 at Mettur, near Salem in Tamil Nadu, to manufacture a variety of high quality Specialty Paste PVC resin products having a wide range of end-use applications. Chemplast Sanmar pioneered the manufacture of speciality Paste PVC in India. It is     today the country’s largest manufacturer of Specialty Paste PVC resin.
    • Custom Manufactured Chemicals division – Chemplast Sanmar Limited, is a leading supplier of intermediates for global Agrochemical, Pharmaceutical and Fine Chemical innovators. These intermediates involve complex multi step synthesis using unique chemistries. The manufacturing facility is located at Berigai, Tamil Nadu.
    • Chlorochemicals division – is a result of backward integration by the Group, manufactures a wide range of products using a highly integrated manufacturing process.
    • Hydrogen Peroxide division – is part of downstream integration as a value added product.
  • Chemplast Sanmar’s has 119,000 MT per annum of production capacity for caustic soda in Tamil Nadu. Its Mettur site has 67,000 MT per annum and Karaikal site has 52,000 MT per annum of caustic soda production capacity.

Atul Products Ltd

  • Atul Products Limited is part of Atul ltd, one of the largest chemical companies headquartered in Gujarat. The company is into manufacture and sale of specialty chemicals, fine chemicals and polymers.
  • The parent company has two business segments: Life Science Chemicals and Performance & Other Chemicals. Life science chemicals include pharmaceuticals (APIs) and agrochemicals, which contribute 34% of the company’s sales. While performance and other chemicals include aromatics, colors, bulk chemicals and polymers/performance materials contributing 66% of sales.
  • Atul Products has 45,000 MT per annum capacity for caustic soda production at its plant in Valsad.
  • The company’s upcoming capacity of 109,500 MT per annum at Valsad will start operations from January 2023. This will increase the total capacity of caustic soda to 155,000 MT.

DCW

  • DCW in 1925 laid foundation stone of India’s first Soda Ash factory at Dhrangadhra a small principality in the state of Gujarat in West India. The plant was taken over in 1939 and run under the name of Dhrangadhra Chemical Works.
  • The company’s basic chemical product range provides key ingredients to the manufacturers of agricultural products, detergents, food, pharmaceuticals, pigments, fertilizers, alumina among others.
  • DCW has R&D centre in Sahupuram, Tamil Nadu, which is home to world- class Research & Development capabilities in chemistry to sustain economic growth and build an innovative product pipeline.
  • During the FY 2021-22, DCW has produced 72,000 MT against the installed capacity of 96,000 MTPA with a capacity utilization of 75%.

Bodal Chemicals

  • Bodal chemicals limited is one of the leading Chlor Alkali manufacturer in North India.
  • The company’s products include Caustic Soda (Flakes & Lye), Hydrochloric Acid, Stable Bleaching Power, Sodium Hypochlorite, Hydrogen and Liquid Chlorine.
  • The manufacturing process is based on the environment friendly Membrane Cell Technology. The technology involved consist of fine control of major process parameters with Distributed Control System (DCS).
  • The company has a total caustic soda capacity of 82,500 MT per annum.
  • Bodal Chemicals during FY2021-22 saw an increase in Caustic Soda plant output capacity from 82,500 MTPA to 99,000 MTPA.

TGV SRAAC

  • TGV SRAAC (Formerly Known as Sree Rayalaseema Alkalies and Allied Chemicals) is engaged in the Business of leading producer of Chlor-Alkali products, Chloromethane and also manufactures Castor Derivatives and Fatty Acids.
  • TGV SRAAC is the pioneer of the Bipolar Membrane Cell Technology from Uttdenona spa, Italy, in India.
  • The company uses state-of-the-art equipment and up-to- the minute technologies including the Costruzioni Meccaniche Bernardini (CMB) technology from Italy for its fatty acids division.
  • Its captive power plant used, assures uninterrupted and cost-effective power supply to the manufacturing plant.
  • Its present installed production capacity of Caustic Soda is 69,500 MTPA as on 31st March, 2022
  • The company caters to end use sectors like Aluminum, Paper, Pulp, Pharma, Soaps, Textiles and Rayon.
  • During the FY 2021-22, SRAAC has produced 55,600 MT against the installed capacity of 69,500 MTPA with a capacity utilization of 80%.

Lords Chloro Alkali

  • Lords Chloro Alkali Ltd. (LCAL) was incorporated in 1979, for producing and exporting a wide range of chemicals, which commanded the market in North India.
  • LCAL has built sophisticated manufacturing facilities at Alwar (Rajasthan), having locational advantage in chloro-alkali deficit region.
  • The company has a well-integrated Caustic-Soda Plant with 80,300 MT per annum capacity.
  • The company supplies its products to most of the paper, soap, dyes, chemicals and plastic industries based at the western part of UP, Haryana, Punjab & Delhi. Besides this, there is also in-house consumption of Chlorine.
  • The company produced 60,083 MT of caustic soda during the FY22 against 59,150 MT in the previous year with 75% capacity utilization.
  • LCAL has initiated a plan to increase the Caustic soda capacity to 109,500 MT per annum and manufacturing of additional new products i.e. Stable Bleaching Powder (SBP) and Chlorinated Paraffin wax (CPW).

Tata Chemicals

  • Tata Chemicals Ltd is a subsidiary of Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate. The company is engaged in manufacture and sale of basic chemicals, specialty products and agri inputs.
  • The company is the largest saltworks in Asia, and are the 3rd largest soda ash manufacturer and the 6th largest sodium bicarbonate manufacturer in the world.
  • The company operates with two business segments:
    • Basic Chemistry Products – Pioneer in Basic Inorganic Chemicals representing Chlor-Alkali industry. Global market leadership in Soda Ash and Sodium Bicarbonate.
    • Specialty Products – Fermentation platform-based Prebiotics & Formulations; Silica for Green applications and a range of Agri inputs for farm productivity.
  • The company has 13 manufacturing facilities across 4 countries and marketing presence in 30 countries.
  • Tata chemicals has an installed capacity of 36,500 MT per annum for caustic soda at the its chemical facilities in Mithapur, Gujarat.

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