Mitsui, Ruchi ink pact for steel venture

Japanese major Mitsui has signed a pact with Ruchi group for a joint venture steel project, Indian Steel Corporation, to manufacture cold rolled steel and galvanised products.

As per the agreement, Mitsui will pick up a 10 per cent stake in the joint venture. The Rs 600 crore project, located near Kandla, Gujarat, has a production capacity of 400,000 million tonne a year for CR steel and 270,000 million tonne a year for galvanised products. It is expected to reach full operation by 2007.

With the commissioning of this project, the Ruchi group would add capacity of about half a million tonne to its existing steel processing capacity. "With increasing activity in the Indian construction and sustained buoyancy in the construction segment, we are bullish on the domestic demand", said Mr. Umesh Shahra, Managing Director, Indian Steel Corporation.

Mitsui is one of the Japan's largest trading companies with revenues of $ 32.95 billion and has business interests in metal products and minerals, machinery, electronics and chemicals among others. Kiyotaka Watanabe, Managing officer & Chief Operating Officer- Iron and Steel Products Business Unit, said that this is Mitsui's first ever equity investment in the Indian steel Products sector. He also added that India is one of the most potential countries for future growth.