[SMM Chromium Flash] India's Vishnu Chemicals and France's DCX Chrome to Build Chromium Metal Plant in Visakhapatnam

Vishnu Chemicals Limited (VCL), India's leading chromium, barium and strontium chemicals manufacturer, has executed a definitive Joint Venture Agreement with DCX Chrome SAS of France, a subsidiary of the Delachaux Group, to establish a greenfield high-purity chromium metal manufacturing plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The two companies will each hold a 50% equity stake in the new joint venture. The facility is engineered for an installed capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes per annum, dedicated entirely to producing high-purity chromium metal.

Under the agreement, DCX Chrome, a Tier-1 supplier to global aerospace, energy, superalloy and welding sectors with more than 80 years of aluminothermic chromium metal manufacturing experience, will provide its proprietary process technology to the venture. VCL, which the release describes as India's undisputed market leader in chromium chemicals, will supply chrome oxide green as the raw material feedstock, ensuring what the companies characterized as an uninterrupted domestic supply chain for the plant.

The venture is framed explicitly around import substitution under India's Atmanirbhar Bharat, or self-reliance, policy, targeting a segment of the chromium value chain the release describes as currently almost entirely import-dependent in India. Applications cited include aerospace turbo-reactor components such as combustion chambers, turbine disks, blades and casings, with the release noting that a single commercial aircraft engine, such as one used on the Airbus A320, contains approximately 250 kilograms of pure chrome metal. Other targeted end markets include downhole drilling tools and corrosion-resistant alloy pipelines for oil and gas applications, steam superheater tubes for nuclear power plants, land-based gas turbines, and thin-film materials used in liquid crystal displays.

VCL Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Murthy Cherukuri said the partnership advances the company's strategic growth while contributing to India's self-reliance goals, while DCX Chrome CEO Fernando Accioly said the joint venture reflects strong confidence in the long-term global outlook for high-purity chromium metal. The project is also expected to generate high-skilled engineering and operational employment in the Visakhapatnam region, supporting Andhra Pradesh's broader industrial development objectives. No timeline for construction completion or commissioning of the plant was disclosed in the announcement.