Beni promises 10 steel units in Uttar Pradesh

Plants likely to be set up by public sector enterprises -- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam ltd and Steel Authority of India Ltd

Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Monday announced that 10 steel processing units would be set up in Uttar Pradesh to boost industrialisation.

The plants would be established at Gonda, Barabanki, Lakhimpur, Hardoi, Jhansi, Kaisergunj, Mirzapur, Ambedkar Nagar and Bahraich, the government said. The location of the tenth unit was not clear.

Each plant would be set up at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The total investment would be to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore.

The plants are likely to be set up by public sector enterprises (PSEs) namely Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited and Steel Authority of India Limited.

Another steel factory is being set up at Jagdishpur with 13,000 tonnes per annum capacity corrugation unit and a TMT Bar mill with a capacity of 1,50,000 tonnes per annum. Stockyards are also being set up at Gorakhpur and Gonda. A forged wheel plant will be established at Rae Bareli.

Meanwhile, two coal-fired power plants would be set up at Gonda and Jagdishpur.

The power plants would incur an investment of Rs 3,000 crore each and provide employment to over 1,000 people. Thus, the total investment in these power units would be Rs 6,000 crore.

However, Verma did not divulge details about these projects and the proposed timeframe.

He was speaking at the 24th meeting of National Steel Consumers’ Council of Ministry of Steel.

He underlined that India was the fourth largest steel producer in the world and the second best in terms of growth rate among the top 10 steel producers.

Currently, India’s steel production capacity is 96 million tonnes (MT) per annum, which is expected to touch 300 MT by 2025.

Recently, Verma had visited Australia and New Zealand to hold talks for import of coal.

“New Zealand has large coal reserves and we are confident that we will be able to tie-up for importing coal in the future,” he said.

STEEL SMART

* Each plant to be set up at a cost of Rs 100 crore

* Units likely to be set up by PSEs namely RINL and SAIL

* Steel factory to come up at Jagdishpur with 13,000 tonnes per annum capacity corrugation unit

* Stockyards to be set up at Gorakhpur and Gonda

* Forged wheel plant to be established at Rae Bareli