The steel making capacity of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), a unit of the maharatna PSU Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), would be ramped up from the existing 2.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) to five mtpa at an investment of Rs 12,000 crore.
“The steel making capacity of RSP will be scaled up to five mtpa. The plant will have the country's biggest blast furnace with a capacity of 4,060 cubic metres that will be operational in June-July. The state government is extending us full cooperation,” said C S Verma, chairman of SAIL.
On the proposed joint venture between SAIL and Posco India, he said, “Our discussions with Posco India have been positive and very soon you will be hearing good news on this front.”
Both SAIL and Posco India are understood to have buried their differences on the Rs 13,000-crore JV to set up a three million tonne steel plant at Bokaro in Jharkhand.
Shareholding of the proposed venture remained a hurdle for the project to take off. While Posco was keen on getting the management control with 51 per cent stake, SAIL wanted to make it an even venture.
SAIL and Posco have been engaged in negotiations to thrash out the differences for more than a year now. The JV intended to use Posco's patented Finex technology.
On Bolani iron ore mines, he said, “The Bolani mines are the lifeline for RSP. We are in talks with the state government to sort out various issues including forest clearance.”
The state steel and mines department had asked SAIL to stop mining activities immediately at Bolani following the expiry of forest clearance on February 11.
SAIL is excavating the Bolani mine under deemed extension as per the provisions of Mineral and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. The company had received forest clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF), Government of India for about 706 ha forest land that was valid till February 11.
Bolani mines, spread over 1,597 ha in Keonjhar district under Joda mines circle, possess best quality iron ores that are primarily used for the Durgapur plant of SAIL. The mine has an estimated iron ore reserve of about 150 million tonne.In 2008, SAIL had announced to invest Rs 120 crore to develop Bolani mine that included deploying highly efficient earth moving equipment and other effective mining method. Following the expansion, Bolani mine alone will supply about 10 million tonne iron ore every year to the national steel producer.
The company currently produces 13 million tonne steel out of its several plants located in different parts of the country and has plans to increase the output to 23 million tonne by the end of 2012-13. It will also increase iron ore production to 38 million tonnes, in line with the company's Rs 70,000-crore mega expansion plans.
