Gulf Oil Corporation Limited

The IDL Story

This page discusses the history and profile of IDL Industries prior to its merger with Gulf Oil India to form Gulf Oil Corporation Limited.

The IDL Division of GOCL has been at the forefront of the explosives and detonator industry in India since 1967. In the coming years it will continue to serve the mining and exploration industry, a core sector of the economy, with newer technologies and continue its leadership.

Our core interests are in the fields of detonators and explosives. In recent years, there has been diversification into varied fields such as those of building materials, floriculture and wind power.

1961: Commenced operations.

1967: IDL sets up its detonator factory in Hyderabad with technical assistance from Hungary and Yugoslavia.

1970: IDL sets up an explosives plant in Rourkela with US collaboration. Over the years the collaboration ceases, and IDL developed its own strengths.

IDL chose to manufacture Ammonium Nitrate based slurry explosives in place of the usual Nitro-glycerine based explosives as early as 1970. We were the first in India to produce these eco-friendly explosives - these were not only safer to handle, but do not pose any health hazards for users as well. In today's more conscious times, our decision stands fully vindicated.

We are multi-locational with factories and service centres across India. There are three main production centres at Hyderabad, Rourkela and Singrauli apart from other customer oriented and toll manufacturing units. The building products division has manufacturing facilities at Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. The floriculture division is located in Bangalore and has its environ-controlled green houses outside the city. The wind farms supplementing power to the Hyderabad unit is located in Ramagiri (Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh).

Set in a sprawling 821 acre spread, the ISO 9002 certified Hyderabad facility has over 1600 employees. The entire complex is self-contained in terms of tooling, instrumentation, design, R & D, production and testing. The facility has the unique distinction of being not only the largest facility of its type in India, but is the second largest detonator-manufacturing unit in the world.

The Rourkela Centre (ISO 9002) is a 1100 acre complex set with the forest ranges of Orissa as a scenic backdrop, this facility employs around 700 people. This centre is self contained in terms of facilities for production, testing, housing and servicing.

The Singrauli complex manufactures bulk emulsion explosives and is located in the largest open cast coal belt in India - which caters to five super thermal power plants. It is the first bulk emulsion explosives plant in our stable and the second in India.

Other Centres:

Manufacturing centres are located at Udaipur (Rajasthan), Rajarappa (Bihar) and Singareni (Andhra Pradesh).
Toll facilities in Nagpur (Maharashtra), Erode (Tamilnadu) and Ajmer (Rajasthan).
Support bulk units are also located at Talcher (Orissa), Rajmahal (Bihar) and Bishrampur (Madhya Pradesh).