Kolkata, July 23 - KK Birla group company Texmaco Ltd is in the last leg of finalising a joint venture with three Japanese companies led by Kawasaki to make Metro rail coaches, a top official said here Thursday.

Texmaco will be part of the alliance through its newly formed 50:50 joint venture with the United Group of Australia.

Toshiba and Itochu are the other two Japanese partners in the project.

'The total investment will be Rs.300 crore, which would be used for setting up a greenfield plant near Kolkata,' Texmaco chairman Saroj Kumar Poddar told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting.

Texmaco's Australian joint venture will invest another Rs.100 crore to make specialised stainless steel wagons, Poddar said.

'We are anticipating that we will have less than 50 percent share in the joint venture with the Japanese consortium,' said company president and chief executive Ramesh Maheswari.