Nalco signs pact for Rs.400 crore titanium project

BHUBANESWAR - Two public sector companies, the National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) and Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL), have signed a pact to set up a titanium plant at an estimated cost of Rs.400 crore in Orissa’s Ganjam district, a senior Nalco official said Saturday.

Nalcos director (finance) B.L. Bagra said Nalco and IREL will have 49 and 51 percent stake respectively in the project planned at Chhatrapur, about 157 km from Bhubaneswar to make value-added products from beach sand minerals, which would subsequently be used for making titanium and allied products.

He said both the companies will establish a joint venture company soon. “The new company will buy ilmenite, the basic raw materials from IREL at market price, Bagra told IANS, adding that the construction of the plant should start in one year.

Titanium has a strategic importance for the country and is a key material used in space, aviation, nuclear, automobile, and paint industries, a statement said.

There being no production of the mineral in the country, the need is met by imports. On the other hand, beach sand - the basic raw material for production of titanium - is available in huge quantities with IREL and is exported without value-addition, it said.

The development of these value-added products will be an important step towards import substitute for the country, the statement added.