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| The A V Birla group has initiated discussions with Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL), under the department of atomic energy, to explore the possibilities. |
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| IREL chairman and managing director, T K Mukherjee, said top officials of the group met him to discuss the options. |
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| IREL produces ilmenite of 4.35 lakh tonne, which is the basic raw material for titanium dioxide. |
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| The PSU has leases for ilmenite deposits across Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. However, discussions with A V Birla group is understood to be for the Orissa deposits. |
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| Industry sources said if the group entered into the titanium business it will involve huge investments. |
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| Titanium dioxide or white pigment was a high value added product with the rutile grade priced at around $2,000 a tonne and the sulphate grade at $1,700 a tonne. |
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| If the titanium project materialises, then it will change the dynamics of the industry, which was hitherto controlled by PSUs and some smaller companies, despite the beach sand sector being opened to private players five years back. |
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| Industry sources said that to put up a 1 lakh tonne capacity of white pigment, which is value added titanium, the investment would be in the region of Rs 2,000 crore. |
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| The prospects of white pigment industry is immense in the country. White pigment happens to be the basic raw material for paints. |
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| At present, the demand for white pigments in India is 80,000 tonne, of which around 50 per cent or more was being imported. |
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| While India has reserved of 348 million tonne of ilmenite only 50 per cent was in a position to be mined. |
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| The A V Birla group will be the second group to venture into a titanium project. Tata Steel has already signed an agreement with its consortium partners for setting up its titania project in the state of Tamil Nadu. |
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Tata Steel
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