Tata Steel submits plan for 6 mt Orissa plant

It is official now. Tata Steel proposes to set up a six million integrated tonne plant at Duburi in Jajpur district of Orissa. The company submitted a proposal to Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (Ipicol) in this regard today.

The project is estimated to cost about Rs 15,000 crore and the scope investment includes mines development, raw material processing, 140 mw captive power generation, production of steel through blast furnace route and steel rolling mill for final output. Tata Steel's Orissa project is in tune with the company's target to achieve steel capacity of 15 million tonne by 2010.

After the expansion of Jamshedpur plant from 4.5 million tonne to 7.5 million tonne through an ongoing upgradation programme, the company intended to meet the balance 7.5 million tonne of the targeted capacity through this new project and acquisition abroad. Towards this effect, Tata Steel has recently acquired the NatSteel of Singapore having an installed capacity of two million tonne.

The company has sought allotment of 2,500 acre land at Duburi to set up the project. Interestingly, South Korean steel major Posco, a high level team from which recently visited the state to discuss on setting up of a three million tonne steel plant, is also eyeing the same patch of land put up its venture.

Tata Steel's entire six million tonne capacity is proposed to be built in single phase. According to official sources, the company has estimated its iron ore requirement for the new project at 500 million tonne over a period of fifty years.

For the purpose, the company intends to reclaim mining lease over Mankadnacha and Beliapahad deposits in Sundargarh and Keonjhar district which had been withdrawn from it by the government after the company failed to implement Gopalpur steel project.

Tata Steel had proposed to set up a 10 million tonne shore based steel plant at Gopalpur in mid-1990s and acquired 4,000 hectare of land there spending about Rs 160 crore.