4 steel firms to set up plants in Orissa

Four companies today signed memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with the Orissa government for setting up sponge iron and mild steel plants in the state.

The combined capacity of the projects is about 2.8 million tonne of steel per annum with a projected investment of Rs 2,800 crore.

The four companies are Maharashtra Seamless of Raigarh, Kolkata-based SPS Sponge Iron and Orissa Sponge Iron and Sunflag Special Steels Ltd of Nagpur.

SPS Sponge Iron Ltd proposes to set up a Rs 400 crore sponge iron/steel making project in Jharsuguda. The project will be set up in three phases.

First, the company intends to set up a 2.2 lakh tonne per annum sponge iron plant and then add a 2.6 lakh tonnes per annum billet caster for making steel in the second phase.

The third phase comprises installation of blast furnace to produce 2 lakh tonne of cold pig iron, a rolling mill to manufacture one lakh tonne per annum of finished products and a 20 mw captive power plant. The first phase costing about Rs 62 crore is slated for commissioning by the end of September, 2004.

Maharashtra Seamless proposes to set up a 0.5 million tonne steel billet plant over 600 acres of land at Duburi in Jajpur district. The unit will be a backward integration project for the company's seamless pipe and tube plant located at Nagothane in Raigarh district of Maharashtra. The project is estimated to cost Rs 450 crore.

The existing unit of the company in Maharashtra has an installed capacity of 1.5 lakh tonne of pipes and tubes per annum and it proposes to expand it by another three lakh tonne through commissioning of the second unit next month. The billet requirement of Nagothane plant will be met from the Orissa venture, said a company official.

Sunflag intends to set up a one million tonne steel plant in two phases of 0.35 and 0.65 million tonne capacities costing Rs 350 crore and Rs 590 crore, respectively.

The project, to come up at Bomlai in Angul district, envisages to make long products and will have captive generation facility of 150 MW.

Orissa Sponge Iron, which has a one lakh tonne per annum sponge iron and 50,000 tonne per annum billet plant at Plaspanga in Keonjhar district, proposed to set up a one million tonne billet making plant at an estimated Rs 1,037 crore.

The project will come up in two phases of 0.35 million tonnes and 0.60 million tonne and envisages a captive generation of 136 mw.

Sources said the basic purpose of these companies to go for signing of MoUs was to ensure allotment of captive iron ore mines for their respective projects.

However, till such time as the mining lease is recommended in their name, the state has assured them to provide raw material linkage through the mines of Orissa Mining Corporation or other private operators.

The MoUs were inked between R N Bohidar, secretary, steel and mines department of the Orissa government, and representatives of the four companies in the presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat.