JSPL, RINL to jointly secure supply of liquid steel to upcoming Angul plant

Jindal Steel Power Ltd on Saturday said its partnership with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd will ensure the supply of liquid steel to its upcoming hot strip mill at Angul in Odisha.

In a statement, JSPL said it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with RINL for the operationalisation of the latter's blast furnace-3 (BF-3).

"The tie-up with RINL will release additional liquid steel for slab casting and onward rolling into hot rolled coils from JSPL's upcoming state-of-the-art hot strip mill at Angul which is slated for commissioning soon," it said.

The blast furnace BF-3 at the RINL plant in Visakhapatnam has been closed since January 2021. The restart of the BF-3 is planned for December 30, 2023, at a capacity of 2 lakh tonnes of hot metal per month.

"We extend wishes to the management and employees of RINL for embarking on this partnership," JSPL Managing Director (MD) Bimlendra Jha said.

On Friday, RINL said JSPL will provide working capital support or raw material supply of Rs 800-900 crore under a pact signed between the companies.

In return, RINL will ensure the supply of 90,000 tonnes of cast blooms to the private steel company, JSPL said in a statement.

JSPL ramped up the capacity of its plant in Angul, Odisha to 11.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from the existing 5.6 MTPA.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), under the Ministry of Steel, is among the top six steel manufacturing companies in India. There are three blast furnaces of 2.5 million tonne (MT) each at its plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.