The Hindu Business Line : Tata Steel revives titanium dioxide plant in TN

New plant: The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, exchanging documents with the Chairman of Tata Sons, Mr Ratan Tata, at the Secretariat in Chennai on Thursday.

Our Bureau

Chennai, June 28 After hanging fire for over five years, the Titanium dioxide project of Tata Steel in Tamil Nadu came a step closer to fruition today with the signing of a MoU between the Tata group and the Government of Tamil Nadu.

In the MoU, which speaks of an investment of Rs 2,500 crore by Tata Steel on the project, the Government commits to make available the 10,000-12,000 acres of land needed for the project.

The MoU was signed by Mr B. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel, and Mr Shaktikanta Das, Industries Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, in the presence of the Tata group Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata and the Chief Minister of the State, Mr M. Karunanidhi.

The project is for mining ilmenite, an ore of Titanium, from the sands of the southern districts of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin and extracting Titanium from it.

This will be used to produce Titanium dioxide, a white pigment that is used in paints.

With no domestic manufacturer, India imports annually about 60,000-70,000 tonnes of Titanium dioxide, a chemical that is said to be the largest use of Titanium.

Talking to journalists after the signing, Mr Muthuraman said that ilmenite (named so because it was first discovered in the Ilmen hills in the southern portion of the Russian Urals mountains) occurs mostly on the surface of the earth—about 4-5 metres.

After the mineral is extracted, the earth is put back and as such there is no land lost to the industry.

Mr Muthuraman said that the project would mean a lot to the development of the two drought-prone, arid districts of Tamil Nadu.

Describing it as a “very significant project for the Tatas in Tamil Nadu”, Mr Ratan Tata said that he had assured the Chief Minister that the group would look at investing more in the State.

He mentioned power as one of the possible areas.

More Stories on : Announcements | Minerals | Tamil Nadu | Tata Steel Ltd

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