Calcutta, Nov. 20: Chennai-based Ennore Coke will double production capacity at its Haldia plant.

The company, promoted by Shriram Group, has built a 130,000-tonne metallurgical coke unit in the Bengal port town at an investment of Rs 84 crore. This plant is now going into production.

Beating the downturn, Ennore is planning another plant of a similar size in Haldia. “We want to have economy of scale in production,” said Ganesh Natarajan, whole time director of the company.

The new plant will be ready in 2010 and is expected to come at a lower cost of Rs 70 crore as the company hopes to cash in on the drop in construction cost and share infrastructure with the first unit.

The BSE-listed firm also plans to double the capacity of the power plant near the coke unit to 24 mega watt.

The power plant uses gas produced while making coke to generate electricity. Natarajan said the company expected to make a substantial gain by selling carbon credits for using the gas.

The foundation stone for the Haldia project was laid by Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in April 2007.

Metallurgical coke is a crucial raw material in steel making and is in short supply in India.