Proterial will invest 12 billion yen to build its first India plant for iron-based amorphous metal, seeking to meet rising transformer demand in the world's third-largest electricity consumer, Nikkei reported Friday.

The facility will be set up in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, through a joint venture in which Proterial holds 74%, with a local transformer maker owning 26%. Operations are scheduled to begin in October, with about 200 employees, according to the report.

The plant will have an initial capacity of about 30,000 metric tons a year, lifting Proterial's global output by around 50%. India will become its third production base after Japan and the U.S. The company targets $100 million in sales from the site by 2030, the report said.

Proterial said amorphous metal can reduce standby power loss to about one-third that of comparable grain-oriented electrical steel. It also sees potential in electric-vehicle motors, where the material can cut losses to less than one-tenth of conventional non-oriented steel, with further investment planned if demand warrants, according to the report.

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