Soda ash is manufactured by using the materials of sodium chloride and limestone. At present there are six units manufacturing soda ash. Among these one each is in north and south and four in the west. Of the total production. Tata Chemicals account for 47 per cent of the country’s production followed by Gujarat Heavy Chemicals, Birla VXI and others. Important soda ash producing companies include Tata Chemicals, MiUiapur (Gujarat), Saurashtra Chemicals, Porbandar (Gujarat), Dharangadhra Chemical Works Dhrangadhra and Sahu Chemicals, Varanasi.
The installed capacity of soda ash production has grown from 15.56 lakh tons in 1990-91 to 18.65 lakh tons in 2001-02 exhibiting an increase of 19.85 per cent during the last 11 years. During this period the capacity of utilisation varied between 85.3% and 96.88 per cent.
The actual production of soda ash has increased from 13.85 lakh tons to 16.40 lakh tons during 1990-91 and 2001-02 at an average rate of 1.67 per cent per annum. The total capacity if soda ash will increase from 18.40 lakh tons to 23.8 lakh tons with the expansion of capacities and addition of new unit by Nirma for captive consumption.
The overall growth of demand is expected to reach a rate of seven per cent per annum and the increased capacity will meet the internal demand until 2004-05. Part of the production of soda ash is exported to Asian countries. This export is likely to increase in the coming years.
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Production of sulphuric acid was 22 lakh tons in 1979 which rose to 36 lakh tons in 1984- 85, 35.20 lakh tons in 1990-91 and 40 lakh tons in 1996-97. Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal together contribute about 80 per cent of the country’s total production of sulphuric acid. Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Assam, Punjab, Rajasthan and Orissa account for rest of the production.
The important producers are (i) Dharmasi Moraiji Chemical Co., Mumbai, (ii) FACT, Always, (iii) Fertilizer Corporation of India, Trombay, (iv) E1D Parry, Chennai, (v) National Rayon Corporation, Kalyan, (vi) TISCO, Jamshedpur, (vii) Delhi Cloth Mill, Delhi, (viii) Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works, Kolkata, (ix) IISCO, Burnpur, (x) Hindustan Zinc Ltd., Debari (Udaipur), and (xi) Hindustan Coppper Ltd., Khetrinagar (Rajasthan). The future demand scenario will depend on die installation of new fertilizer capacity and new refineries.
About 45 per cent of the consumption of sulphuric acid goes to fertilisers, followed by dyes and intermediates (10 per cent), petroleum refining (5 per cent), pharmaceuticals (4 per cent), explosives and spl. Lubricant/oils (3 per cent each).