Indian government owned trading company MMTC Limited and PAMP SA – the Swiss precious metals refiner, have joined hands forming a joint venture (JV) company MMTC-PAMP. The company is being set up with an investment of Rs 148 crore, reports say. The JV company will delve in gold refining and minting of coins that would carry coloured pictures of the Indian world heritage sites, reports add. The company will be headquartered in Gurgaon near Delhi.

The refining capacity is pegged at 300 tonne of gold, 300 tonne of silver, which is around 50 percent of India’s annual gold import of 600 tonnes. Also, the company would mint 3 million pieces of medals per annum and also sell them in international markets.

As per the agreement, MMTC would be a 26 percent stakeholder in the new company, 2 percent stake would be with MMTC employees and 72 percent with PAMP.