Hindustan Electro Graphite (HEG), part of India's $400-million LNG Bhilwara Group, plans to construct a plant in Qatar, according to a Gulf Times report.

The plant, Bhilwara's second and its first outside India, is estimated to cost $100 million, the newspaper reported, quoting Indian embassy sources.

The company plans to take a 60-70 per cent stake and the balance will be offered to local partners.

Hindustan Electro Graphite is one of six companies in the world to possess the kind of technology it uses, the sources said, and has the largest integrated graphite plant in South Asia and the Middle East. The HEG plant at Bhopal manufactures 30,000 metric tonnes of graphite a year, of which 24,500 metric tonnes is exported, bringing in revenue of $60 million a year.

The company supplies about 15,000 tonnes to the Middle East, out of the total requirement of 70,000 tonnes. The proposed plant in Qatar will initially produce about 17,000 tonnes but this will be increased to 30,000 metric tonnes in about three to four years.

Qatar currently needs 3,000 metric tonnes of graphite, half of which is supplied by HEG. Similarly, Saudi Arabia requires 8,000 metric tonnes, of which 1,000 metric tonnes is provided by the Indian company, the report said.