Proterial, Ltd., formerly Hitachi Metals, Ltd., a Tokyo-headquartered manufacturer of high-performance materials, will establish India’s first manufacturing facility for amorphous electrical steel used in transformer cores. The plant will be located in Sri City, Tirupati District, Andhra Pradesh, and is scheduled to begin operations in October 2026, primarily serving domestic demand amid rising requirements for energy-efficient power infrastructure.
The investment will be executed in two phases. The company plans to invest between USD 77 million and USD 80 million in the first phase, with a further USD 155 million to USD 160 million earmarked for expansion.
The project will be undertaken through Metglas (India) Private Limited, incorporated on 30 June 2025. The joint venture is owned 74 percent by Proterial and 26 percent by Shirdi Sai Electricals Ltd, a Telangana-based manufacturer of power distribution transformers established in 1994.
Construction of the facility began in January 2026 and the plant is expected to employ 200 people. At the start year of operation, the unit will have a production capacity of approximately 30,000 tons per year and will manufacture amorphous metal material marketed under the name Metglas, produced as amorphous alloy ribbon for use as a transformer core material.
Proterial stated that electricity demand has increased significantly in recent years due to economic growth in emerging nations, expansion in the number of data centres, and ongoing electrification. India is expected to experience rapid growth in electric power demand driven by population growth and economic development centred on the information technology and manufacturing sectors.
Amorphous metal materials differ from conventional crystalline metals in their atomic structure. When rapidly cooled from a molten state, the atoms do not align into a regular lattice and instead form an irregular arrangement. Compared with crystalline metals, amorphous metals are regarded as soft magnetic materials, offering high magnetic flux density and suitability for transformer core applications.
A transformer core functions as the path for magnetic flux generated when alternating current passes through the primary coil. By varying the number of turns in the primary and secondary coils wound around the core, voltage can be changed. The core must minimise energy losses during transmission, and amorphous alloy ribbon is layered to form the transformer core in order to reduce standby power loss.
When used as a core material in transformers, the amorphous alloy ribbon can reduce standby power usage by approximately one-third compared to electromagnetic steel sheets, based on Proterial’s estimates using transformer standard JIS C 4304:2024. The company currently produces the material for the Indian market at its Metglas Yasugi Works in Shimane Prefecture, Japan, and exports it to India.
Proterial’s existing production sites include Metglas, Inc., established in April 1989 in South Carolina, United States, with capital of USD 10 million, and Metglas Yasugi Works in Japan, which began production of the amorphous metal material in 2007. With the addition of the India facility, the company will operate a three-site manufacturing structure spanning the United States, Japan, and India.
Proterial, Ltd. was established in 1956 and renamed from Hitachi Metals, Ltd. in 2023. The company traces its origins to Tobata Foundry Co., founded in 1910, and reported sales revenue of 768.6 billion yen for the term ended March 2025. It manufactures high-performance materials and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
