Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co., Ltd. will invest 473 million yuan (US$73 million) in a high-intensity cutting line project to make solar wafers, which are used in solar cells.

The project, which will take 22 months to complete, is designed to produce 12,000 tons of solar wafers a year and expected to bring in 1 billion yuan (US$154 million) in sales revenue and 347 million yuan (US$54 million) in profit annually.

Orient Tantalum has been involved in the photovoltaic industry since it established a subsidiary company to produce cutting devices for crystalline silicon with Japanese Nanko Abrasives Industry Co., Ltd.