State signs 11 MoUs for a total of Rs 1.92 lakh crore investments in the sector
Iron and steel sector make up lion’s share in investment proposals for which MoUs were signed on the first day of the Global Investors’ Meet (GIM), here on Thursday. The Karnataka government signed as many as 10 MoUs in the steel sector involving a combined investment of Rs 1.92 lakh crore. This was followed by the cement and petrochemicals sector.
Prominent among the MoUs in the steel sector were that of state infrastructure minister Janardhan Reddy-owned Brahmani Industries Karnataka Ltd for Rs 36,000 crore to set up 6 MTPA steel plant, ArcelorMittal for Rs 30,000 crore to set up 6 MTPA steel plant. Posco of South Korea has proposed to invest Rs 32,300 crore to set up a 6 MTPA steel plant. “Though Posco earlier insisted in writing for captive mines, land, water and power before clearing its project, it relented after we prevailed on it to first sign the agreement on the terms and conditions that were applied to ArcelorMittal and other steel firms,” Murugesh R Nirani, minister for large and medium industries told reporters.
While JSW Steel Ltd has proposed to enhance the installed capacity of integrated steel plant from 10 million tonne per annum to 16 MTPA and 600 Mw captive power plant at Toranagallu in Bellary district.
NMDC, India’s largest iron-ore producer, is setting up a steel plant in Karnataka which will have a capacity of 5 million tons. The company will look at investing Rs 9,200 crore into the project. The company is aiming at an initial production of 2 million tonnes. It is looking for a joint venture partner and said that private companies with superior technology would be preferred.
“The Karnataka government has given us the in-principle approval to acquire 2,500 acres of land. We are in the process of identifying a location for the plant,” said Rana Som, chairman and MD of NMDC.
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Hazira Steel Ltd has proposed to invest Rs 17,760 crore to establish carbon steel products with a capacity of 6 MTPA in Bagalkot district and Surya Vijayanagar Steel and Power Limited has planned to set up a 6 MTPA integrated steel plant with 500 Mw captive power plant at an estimated investment of Rs 24,000 crore in Bagalkot district.
Other big-ticket investment proposal signed in the steel sector was of Bhushan Steel Ltd, which proposes to invest Rs 27,928 crore to set up a 6 MTPA steel plant with 600 Mw co-gen project in Bellary district.
Apart from the steel sector, the state has also attracted large amounts of investments to the cement sector. The state signed three MoUs in the cement sector with a combined investment of Rs 31,400 crore. These proposals include Surya Vijayanagar Cement Limited’s plan for a Rs 26,900 crore investment to set up a 5 MTPA cement plant in Bagalkot and Gulbarga districts. Lafarge India Pvt Ltd’s has planned for a Rs 1,500 crore investment to set up a 3 MTPA cement plant and 43 Mw coal-based thermal power plants in Gulbarga district.
Rajashree Cements has planned to invest Rs 3,000 crore to enhance production capacity of cement plant from 4.20 MTPA to 8.45 MTPA and increase captive power plant capacity from 58.5 Mw to 188.5 Mw in Gulbarga district.
The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, which is presently operating a 9.6 MMTPA oil refinery at Mangalore plans to enhance its capacity to 15 MMTPA for an investment of Rs 15,798 crore.
The state will sign MoUs in the power sector, tourism among others on the second day of GIM tomorrow.