IVRCL promoters in JV with Finnish firm

Promoters of IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects Limited and Helsinki-based chemical industry Kemira Oyj have formed a joint venture - Kemira Indus - to set up an inorganic coagulant manufacturing unit at Visakhapatnam.

The plant would have a 50,000 tonne per annum capacity. Coagulants are chemicals that convert liquid into semi-solid or solid form. They are used in treating industrial and municipal water.

The proposed facility would come up in six to eight months with an investment of $10 million (about Rs 4.45 crore). The project would be spread on 24 acre. In Phase-I, 14 acre would be used, IVRCL chairman and managing director E Sudhir Reddy said at a press conference.

The Finnish company would have a 51 per cent stake in the JV while the remaining 49 per cent would be with the promoters of IVRCL. The JV company expects revenues of about Rs100 crore in two years. It would raise funds through a 1:2 debt to equity ratio.

The alliance with Kemira would also include a supply agreement under which it would provide water treatment chemicals to IVRCL's plants in India.