Country's leading steel maker Sail and Nagpur-based Manganese Ore India Ltd have joined hands for setting up a 1 lakh tonne ferro alloys plant in Bhilai at an estimated investment of Rs 400 crore.
To proceed on the proposed project, the two public sector undertakings under the Ministry of Steel have formed a joint venture company Sail and MOIL Ferro Alloys Private Ltd with 50 per cent equity partnership each.
"The joint venture company, which was registered on July 31, has a total capital outlay of Rs 380 crore," MOIL Chairman and Managing Director K N Mehrotra said.
He said the proposed plant is likely to begin production by 2009-end or early 2010.
Ranchi-based PSU Mecon has been entrusted with the consultancy work for the project, he added.
Mehrotra said the ferro alloys produced from the upcoming plant would be used by Sail as input material for steel making.
In all, the JV company would require about 3 lakh tonne of manganese ore to produce 1 lakh tonne of ferro alloys per annum. As of now, the country's total ferro alloys production is pegged at about 7 lakh tons against the requirement of 9 lakh tonne.
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In the last fiscal, MOIL produced 13.65 lakh tonne of manganese ore, registering a rise of over 30 per cent compared to the year-ago period.
Mehrotra said MOIL has set a target of producing 20 lakh tonne of managanese ore by 2020 and is also eyeing South Africa for importing about 3 lakh tonne of the ore. The company has also applied for managanese mines in Maharashtra, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.