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LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Global commodities trading house Mercuria will form a joint venture with Tata International to expand its presence in India and assist the conglomerate with trading a diversified basket of commodities, the pair said in a statement on Friday.

"By combining Tata International’s reach and credibility with Mercuria’s global capabilities, we believe the joint venture is well-positioned to build a high-quality, scalable, and compliant trading platform," Noel Tata, chairman of Tata International, said.

Tata International trades commodities across 50 countries, supporting multinational conglomerate parent Tata Group TATA.NS with trading and distribution. Tata Group is a major player in steel, infrastructure, motor vehicles and aerospace, among other industries, all of which require vast amounts of natural resources, such as metals and gas, that a commodity trader like Mercuria could help supply.

“India represents a compelling long-term opportunity within global trade," Mercuria chief executive Marco Dunand said.

Switzerland-based Mercuria was founded in 2004 with an initial focus on oil trading, but has in recent years expanded with a global metals trading book. The joint venture will become operational following receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, writing by Robert Harvey; Editing by Jan Harvey, Kirsten Donovan)

((Dmitri.Zhdannikov@thomsonreuters.com;))