Hindustan Zinc : to set up smelter in Gujarat state

Ahmedabad (Reuters) - India's Hindustan Zinc Limited plans to set up a smelter in the western state of Gujarat, it said on Wednesday, potentially increasing the company's zinc refining capacity by a third.

Hindustan Zinc, which is majority owned by Vedanta, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government of Gujarat to set up a zinc smelter with annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes.

The company, which has annual zinc refining capacity of 917,000 tonnes, expects to start producing zinc at the smelter by the 2024 financial year, a company spokeswoman said, adding that the facility would be its second largest.

Hindustan Zinc, in which India's federal government owns a 29.7% stake, expects to invest at least 50 billion Indian rupees ($682.4 million) in the project, it said in a statement.

($1 = 73.2700 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sumit Khanna; Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in CHENNAI; Editing by David Goodman)

By Sumit Khanna