A deal has been signed between Indian specialty gas company Helious Specialty Gases (Helious) and major Japanese gas company Iwatani Corporation (Iwatani) that will see Helious become the first company to have three helium transfill facilities in India.
Affirmed earlier this year, the agreement involves Iwatani supplying liquid helium to Helious’ transfill facilities located in Gujarat, Telengana, and Rajasthan, the latter two having been commissioned in the second quarter of 2022.
Set to handle one million cubic metres of liquid helium per year at its three sites, the company plans to become a leading supplier of helium within the country, catering to all major OEMs.
Commenting on the deal, Ajay Chawla, Director, Helious, said, “We are immensely excited to announce that apart from our current operational transfillfaciility in Gujarat (West India), which was commissioned in 2018, we have started two more transfill facilities, one in Rajasthan (North India) and the other in Telangana (South India).”
“With this new development, Helious is the first company in India to have three helium transfill facilities which will help us to cater the vast geography of India by having facilities in the three major zones of India.”
Currently on a ‘high growth trajectory’, the company also plans to advance its ventures into air separation unit (ASU) and hydrogen production facilities within the next two years.
Earlier this year concerns were raised over ‘Helium shortage 4.0’, a global helium shortage caused by a lengthy period of short supply due to plant shutdowns and fires, and exacerbated by the possibility of supply chain disruption due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.
