Air Liquide to double capacity in region with India ASU and filling station

Industrial gas major Air Liquide will open its second air separation unit (ASU) and cylinder filling station in Gujarat, India.

Located in the village of Bhagapura, the plant will have a production capacity of 200 tonnes per day while the filling station will fill nearly 1,000 cylinders per day, according to the company.

This will effectively double Air Liquide’s production capacity in the region, where it serves sectors like automotive, battery, and electronics with on-site, bulk, packaged gases and hospitals for medical gases.

“We are more than doubling Air Liquide’s production capacity in Gujarat with our investments in this new … air separation plant and this cylinder filling centre,” said Benoit Renard, Managing Director at Air Liquide India.

The company also plans to run the site on renewable energy from 2029 under its sustainability objectives and the state’s Renewable Energy Policy 2023, which aims to achieve a target of 50% renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Air Liquide operates at least seven ASUs in India, with a new one launched in Nagpur, Maharashtra, in December 2022, and another starting operations in Kosi, Uttar Pradesh, in July 2024. The firm also announced plans to finalise a fifth ASU in Nagpur in 2022.

The new ASU will raise Gujarat’s western region capacity towards approximately 11,100 tonnes per day while boosting the country’s industrial gas market, which is estimated to reach $6.82bn by 2033.

India’s steel sector is the single largest user of oxygen in the country, consuming over 55% of all oxygen produced in the country during peak demand periods.

This growth is mirrored in rising demand from India’s electronics and semiconductor sectors, where production processes require a steady supply of high-purity gases such as nitrogen, hydrogen, and argon. 

Specialty gases account for a growing share of the industrial gas market, which was valued at $3.6bn in 2024 and is expected to reach $6.8bn by 2033.