Chinese, Indian firms plan $651mn alumina JV

China's second largest aluminium maker has got the green light for a 5-billion-yuan ($651 million) joint venture with an Indian company to produce alumina, state media reported today.

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 1 million tonne 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 4,30,000 tonne of primary aluminium, which needs 9,00,000 tonne of alumina a year, the report added.

With domestic alumina running short and the price surging, the resource-hungry government has been encouraging Chinese companies to seek overseas supplies.

India has reserves of 3 billion tonne of bauxite, the principal aluminum ore, the fifth largest in the world, the report said.