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Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Sunday, May 11, 2008 set up India’s first Helium Extraction pilot plant at Kuthalam near Mayiladuturai, Nagapattinam district. With the inauguration of the Helium extraction plant, India joined the ranks of select groups of countries having the expertise to extract Helium. ONGC Chairman, RS Sharma dedicating the plant to the nation remarked that it was yet another feather in the cap of the public sector oil company.
RS Sharma called the setting up of the Rs 6 crore plant as a landmark achievement, which coincided with the World Technology Day. The Helium extraction plant is a joint effort of the ONGC, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata and Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology. Mr. Sharma asserted that the plant is a significant step towards assimilating new technology to make the country self-reliant on the rare and precious gas. In the plant one can extract pure Helium from Natural Gas by using a four stage pressure swing adsorption technique for the first time in India.
