It signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) which is a public sector undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy.
The final product will be used for making titanium and allied products. The project is estimated to cost INR4bn and is planned to be located at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district of Orissa.
Titanium is a key material used in the space, aviation, nuclear, automobile and paint industries. As there is no production of titanium locally, the entire requirement of the country was being imported.
On the other hand, beach sand (that contains Monazite and Ilmenite), the basic raw material for production of Titanium, is available in huge quantity and is exported without value-addition.