Tata Steel which is developing a six million tonne greenfield steel plant at Kalinganagar, projected as Odisha's steel hub, hopes to commission first phase of the project with a capacity of three million tonne, by August 2014.
"We are getting cooperation of the locals. Construction work on our Kalinganagar plant is going on in full swing. By August 2014, we hope to commission the first phase of the plant”, sad H M Nerurkar, managing director, Tata Steel.
The first phase of the project would see an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. The greenfield steel plant at Kalinganagar will concentrate entirely on flat steel products, catering to the needs of the automotive industry and white goods.
Nerurkar and B Muthuraman, vice chairman of Tata Steel called on chief minister Naveen Patnaik to apprise him on the status of Kalingangar steel plant and industrial park at Gopalpur where the steel maker is the anchor tenant.
Nerurkar hinted that Tata Steel was keen on taking up two new projects at Gopalpur in addition to the two existing projects. However, he refused to spell out the details, saying the projects were yet to be approved by the company's board.
The steel maker had lined up two projects at the Gopalpur industrial park- a 50,000 tonne per annum ferroalloys plant and 4,00,000 tonne per annum bar mill.
Tata Steel would invest Rs 1,000 crore on these two projects which would initially create employment for 1000 people.
While the ferroalloys plant will cost about Rs 200 to 250 crore, the bar mill will be set up at an investment of Rs 750 to Rs 800 crore. This will be the third ferroalloys plant of Tata Steel in Odisha. The company is operating two ferroalloys plants at Bamanipal and Athgarh (through its subsidiary Rawmet) with capacities of 50,000 tonne per annum each.
Tata Steel had got the environment clearance for the Gopalpur industrial park. It was awaiting CRZ (coastal regulatory zone) nod for the project.
The company has placed all major orders for its projects at Gopalpur industrial park being developed on around 3500 acres of land.