The Kolkata-based Saraf Agencies Private Limited (SAPL), which is fighting a legal battle with its Russian joint venture partners over setting up of a Rs 2,500 crore titanium project at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district, has decided to build the plant on its own.
“We have decided to implement the project ourselves,” SM Shroff, chairman, SAPL, told Business Standard.
Earlier, SAPL had announced its intention to walk out of the project following its tussle with Russian public sector firms- Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management (ROSIMUSHCHESTVO) and JSC Technochim Holding, with whom it had entered into joint venture.
The differences between SAPL and the Russian firms mainly pertained to land allotment. While the land for the project was allotted in the name of SAPL, the Russian partners wanted it to be transferred in the name of the JV company, Titanium Products Private Limited.
Meanwhile, both the sides have gone to arbitration over the dispute pushing the project into a blind alley.
The decision of SAPL to go ahead with the work on its own has raised hopes of revival of the project though the final award of the arbitration is yet to come. “The panel of arbitrators has held several meetings. The final award may take a long time to come. We have now decided to implement the project in phases,” Shroff said.
He has submitted a blue print of his company’s proposal to the district administration and Land Losers’ Welfare Association and sought their cooperation for implementation of the project. The district administration has assured to extend help to the company. Similarly the office bearers of the association of land losers, who gave away their land for the project, welcomed the company’s decision.
The company has acquired around 260 acres of land near Chhatrapur. In the first phase, SAPL has decided to install an Electric Arc Smelting Furnace to produce 10,000 tonnes of titanium slag and 6,000 tonnes of high purity pig iron per annum. Around Rs 100 crore was to be invested in the first phase of the plant which aimed to start commercial production from May 2014.
Subsequently, the company intended to set up other plants to produce titanium dioxide pigment and titanium sponge. The total investment at the completion of the project is estimated at around Rs 2,500 crore. SAPL has already spent around Rs 60 crore to acquire the land and construct boundary wall there, he said.
