The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is poised for another milestone with a venture for the manufacture of aerospace grade titanium.

ISRO has entered into an agreement with state-owned Kerala Minerals & Metals Ltd (KMML) to establish a titanium sponge plant, a top official said here Tuesday.

The 500-tonne-a-year plant will be set up with an investment of Rs.950 million ($21 million) in a joint venture with KMML.

The plant will be located at Chavara in Kerala to produce titanium sponge for ISRO's space programme in the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital.

"The plant is being set up to indigenously produce strategic material for one of our space programmes at VSSC. The Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, has developed the technology for the titanium sponge plant," the offical said.

Titanium sponge is used for producing aerospace grade titanium. It is a scarce raw material, which is currently imported by the Indian space agency.

"Although India has vast reserves of titanium-bearing minerals, it is mainly exported or converted into titanium oxide pigment with little value addition in the absence of a plant to produce titanium sponge for aerospace applications," the official said.

According to ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair, the proposed plant will facilitate the production of titanium for the first time in the country. The plant's capacity will be upgraded to produce about 1,000 tonnes subsequently.

"The titanium sponge plant will be a milestone in the indigenous production of strategic material for aerospace applications," Nair said in a statement.

The space agency, however, did not disclose the timeframe for commissioning the plant.