Mithapur is located in the Dwarka sub-division of Gujarat state on the west coast of India. Starting in the 1930s with a capacity of 33,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of soda ash, the plant has since grown into a chemicals behemoth with an installed capacity of 8,75,000 tpa -- about 34 per cent of the country's capacity -- making it one of the largest producers of synthetic soda ash in the world.

The Mithapur plant is the largest integrated salt works and inorganic chemicals complex in this part of the world. Its salt works are spread over 60 sq km and can produce over 2 million tonnes of solar salt, the base raw material for almost all the 27 basic chemicals that the company produces.

Beginning with a soda ash capacity of 80 tonnes per day (tpd), the chemical complex has grown into a vast operation making 2,400 tpd of soda ash, 1,500 tpd of vacuum-evaporated salt and 33 other products. Tata Chemicals pioneered the production and marketing of high-quality iodised salt from Mithapur.

Plant capabilities
Mithapur has four main product groups: soda ash, chloro-caustic group, marine chemicals and salt, and cement.

The projects, process equipment and engineering divisions at Mithapur have all been developed with in-house expertise and know-how. These divisions have been substantially upgraded to meet the growing requirements of the company.

The projects division comprises research and development, mechanical and detailed engineering, and a computer-aided research design engineering and management centre equipped with pilot plant facilities, advanced computing facilities and state-of-the-art software. The division is capable of carrying out plant simulations, basic engineering, project monitoring, planning and scheduling in all disciplines.

The process equipment division comprises a foundry, a workshop and control facilities. It has shops for melting and moulding, a fettling shop, a pattern shop, a machine shop, a fabrication shop, a heat-treatment facility and a testing and quality-control cell. It is capable of manufacturing static equipment, sea-water pumps and a variety of process pumps, ranging from carbon steel and stainless steel to grey cast iron and titanium.

The engineering division comprises the construction, electrical engineering, instrumentation and maintenance departments. It is capable of carrying out a number of construction-related activities, including the building of heavy foundations, structural work, erection of plant and machinery (including boilers and turbo-generators) and the installation and commissioning of electrical, instrumentation and control systems.