Indian Rare Earths Ltd, a public
sector enterprise under the
Department of Atomic Energy,
plans to set up a rare
earths plant at Chhatrapur in
Ganjam district of Orissa at an
estimated cost of
140 crore. The
project will have a debt-equity
ratio of 1:1. The plant is expected
to commence operations by end of
2011 or early 2012.
"We are going in for a rare
earths plant in Orissa on a big
scale. We have got the requisite
environmental clearance and
hope to start operations by end
of 2011 or beginning of 2012,"
Dr. R.N. Patra, Chairman &
Managing Director, Indian Rare
Earths Ltd, told Projectmonitor
on the sidelines of the 'Mining
Discussions 2011,' an event
organised in Mumbai recently.
The company has a mine and
also owns land at the site of its proposed
project and therefore does
not anticipate problems.
On January 15, 2011, IREL and
National Aluminium Company
Ltd signed an MoU envisaging
the a
400-crore plant at Chhatrapur
for making value-added products
from beach sand minerals.
The final product would be subsequently
utilised for making titanium
and allied products.
Titanium has a strategic
importance for India and is a key
material used in space, aviation,
nuclear, automobile, and paint
industries. As there was no production
of titanium locally, the
entire requirement of the country
was being imported