Sail bets Rs 20,000 crore on West Bengal

State-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (Sail) will invest Rs 20,000 crore in West Bengal, Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today. This is almost two-fifths of the Rs 53,000 crore spread planned by the country's largest steel maker.

Giving a break-up, Paswan said the company will invest Rs 13,500 crore in the IISCO Steel Plant at Kulti (up from the original plan of Rs 9,600 crore), Rs 5,600 crore in the Durgapur Steel Plant and the balance in the Alloy Steel Plant (also at Durgapur).

This will raise Sail's annual hot metal production from the current 14.6 million tonnes to 26 million tonnes.

Paswan said this was the largest investment being made by Sail in any state and it could put more money into West Bengal in the months to come.

The announcement came even as violent protests have happened at Nandigram against land acquisition for a special economic zone planned by Indonesia's Salim group. Protests had also taken place against Tata Motors' small car facility at Singur and the matter is in the courts.

Addressing a large gathering at the inauguration of the Sail Growth Works (formerly Kulti Works), Paswan said an expert committee would determine the total investment and growth plan for the unit-shut since 2003, while the foundry works would commence operations over the next three months.

Paswan also announced that the Centre was keen on reviving the National Iron and Steel Company, owned by the West Bengal government and closed for the last six years.

Paswan said he had asked the West Bengal government to waive the loans and liabilities to the company so that it could be started on a clean slate. NISCO could be merged into Sail.

The occasion was attended by Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, even as West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen gave it a miss.

However, Mukherjee batted for the state government and spoke in favour of land acquisition for industrialisation.