Ashapura Minechem, China firm to set up $651 mn alumina plant
1 min read 14 Mar 2007, 02:02 PM ISTAshapura Minechem, China firm to set up $651 mn alumina plant
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AFP
Beijing: China’s second largest aluminium maker has got the green light for a $651 million joint venture with an Indian company to produce alumina, the country’s state media reported on 14 March.
The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top planning agency, has approved Qingtongxia Aluminium Group’s proposal to set up an alumina mining and processing joint venture in India, the Shanghai Securities News said.
Qingtongxia, based in the northern Ningxia region, will have a 50% share in the project with India’s Ashapura Minechem Co.
The facility will have a capacity of one million tonnes annually, according to the report.
This is the Chinese company’s first investment in alumina, the main raw material for aluminium production, and will see China’s biggest investment in India so far, the report said.
Qingtongxia has an annual production capacity of 430,000 tonnes of primary aluminium, which needs 900,000 tonnes of alumina a year, the report added.
With domestic alumina running short and the price surging, the government has been encouraging Chinese companies to seek overseas supplies.
Estimated at 3 billion tonnes, India’s reserves bauxite, the principal aluminium ore, are the fifth largest in the world, the report said.
