Incorporated as a private limited company in 1974 and converted into a public limited company in Sep.'75, National Oxygen (NOL) was promoted by G N Saraf. From 1975-80, the company was mainly trading in industrial/medical gases. In 1980, NOL installed and commissioned its first oxygen plant with a capacity of 63 cu mtr ph, at Mathur in the Pudukottai district of Tamilnadu. In 1981, it installed a dissolved acetylene plant at the same premises at a cost of Rs 20.45 lac with term loan assistance from SIPCOT. Again in the next year, it commissioned its second oxygen plant at the same premises at a cost of Rs 53.75 lac, with term loan assistance from SIPCOT. An additional plant for compressing waste nitrogen into commercial grade nitrogen, was installed in 1985. During the same year, it went public to part finance its expansion to set up a 165-cu mtr ph capacity plant at Pondicherry. The expansion project commenced production from Sep.'87. In Jul.'94, the company came out with a rights issue to set up a liquid oxygen / liquid nitrogen / liquid argon tonnage plant with a capacity of 75 tpd. In 1995-96, its expansion project was completed.