The Kolkata based Saraf Agencies, the Indian partner of the Rs 1,200-crore Indo-Russia joint venture to produce titanium dioxide at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district of Orissa, has decided to pull out of the project.
This follows a long spat between Saraf Agencies and its Russian partners, State Property Management Agency with 51 per cent stake in the JV and Tekhnokhim Holding (4 per cent stake) over the title of the land. Both the Russian companies are owned by their government. While the lease of land for the project is held in the name of Saraf Agencies, the Russian companies wanted it to be in the name of the project. The total land required for the project was pegged at 250 acres.