Tata BlueScope eyes steel units in Saarc region

Tata BlueScope Steel, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and Australia's BlueScope Steel, is eyeing facilities in the Saarc region.

Chetan Tolia, managing director, Tata BlueScope Steel, however, clarified that there was no timeframe for the plan.

The company is keen on having a presence in the region and given the demand in India, it was unlikely that a major part of Tata BlueScope's output could be diverted to the export market. Tolia especially mentioned growing demand from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Tata BlueScope recently inaugurated its first rollforming and pre-engineered building facility in Pune. The new facility would manufacture, design and supply a range of Butler pre-engineered buildings and Lysaght steel building solutions.

Two other facilities in Bhiwadi and Chennai are under construction to cater to northern and southern territories. Tolia said the facilities would be operational within three months.

Tata BlueScope may also consider a facility in the eastern region. Tolia said, "Several projects have been announced and construction was also booming. Such potential would be of interest."

Sources close to the development said discussions had been held for a Lysaght steel building solutions facility in the eastern region.

Apart from the three facilities, the company was constructing a metallic coating and painting facility at Jamshedpur. The new facility would have an annual metallic coating capacity of 250,000 tonne and paint line capacity of 150,000 tonne.

The idea was to offer a comprehensive range of branded steel products for building and construction applications, including the premium Zincalume metallic coated and Colorbond painted steels, Lysaght range of steel building solutions and Butler pre-engineered metal building systems.

Tolia said the coating facility would be complete by 2008-09. As of now, the commitment for investment from the joint venture was around Rs 1,300 crore, including the coating facility.