India Essel,Ess Dee bid for Rio packaging arm-paper

MUMBAI, April 11 (Reuters) - India's Essel Propack Ltd (ESSL.BO) and Ess Dee Aluminium (ESDA.BO) are jointly bidding for the packaging unit of Rio Tinto (RIO.L), the Economic Times said on Friday.

The firms are mounting a joint bid and may split the unit subsequently to merge with their own businesses, the paper said, citing sources close to the development. Rio Tinto acquired the unit last year during its takeover of Alcan.

"Rio Tinto's packaging unit is very similar to our line of business and hence it makes great business sense for us," the paper cited an unnamed Essel Propack executive as saying.

An Essel Propack official declined comment on the report.

In September, Ess Dee's chairman said they had bid for the packaging arm, and that it would take six to eight months for the process to be complete. At the time, a local newspaper had reported the packaging unit was worth $1 billion.

The unit, which makes specialty packaging for food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and tobacco products, has annual revenues of about $6 billion. (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by John Mair)