The Hindu Business Line : Kerala Minerals ties up with Russian co for titanium sponge plant

Speaking to Business Line on Monday, the State Industries Minister, Mr Elamaram Kareem, said that VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, a titanium major of Russia was keen to join hands with the State-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML), the only titanium dioxide manufacturer in the country.

The Minister said that a joint working group with three members each from both sides has been constituted. Currently, letters are being exchanged and detailed discussions on issues such as capital requirement, land, power, etc are expected to take place soon, he said. The joint venture probably at the KMML at Chavara in Kollam district would do the processing and smelting of titanium for manufacturing titanium metal.

Raw materials

The Minister said that an agreement would be signed in six months. "Russia has the advanced technology but does not have enough raw materials, whereas we have titanium rich raw materials in abundance besides the required basic infrastructure," he said. Therefore, it would be mutually beneficial for both the countries, he said. According to agency reports from Russia a protocol of intention had been signed for the construction of a plant for manufacturing 10,000 tonne per annum of titanium sponge. A Russian source said that the strategy of the plant would be worked out next year and the unit would become operational in 2009.

The titanium metal is mainly used in aircraft and other space applications, and hence part of the production would be absorbed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bangalore, while another part would find its way to Russia. It would also be used in the joint Indo-Russian Multi-role Transport Aircraft (MTA) project, the report said.

The Russian sources were quoted as saying that they had an understanding with the Indian Defence Ministry about setting up a joint venture for the production of titanium components to meet the requirements of the HAL.

Meanwhile, Mr Kareem said that the KMML and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, had already started a project jointly to manufacture 500 tonnes of titanium sponge annually for ISRO and the unit would be commissioned next year.

It would be manufactured using indigenous technology developed by the Defence Metallurgical Laboratory, Hyderabad. Orders for supply of equipment have been placed with overseas suppliers, he said. DMRL technology has yet to be proved commercially, he added.

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