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India will need to invest around Rs 10 trillion to meet the steel production target of 300 million tonne by 2030, Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said on Saturday.
He said this at the inauguration of four major facilities at JSPL's 6 million tonne per tonne annum (MTPA) steel plant, which included a Rs 100 billion coal gasification unit and a blast furnace.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated one of the four facilities.
"We have set a target of raising steel production in the country to 300 mtpa by 2030 and an investment of Rs 10 trillion would have to be made to achieve the goal," Singh said.
The facilities opened by the two Union ministers are: 3 mtpa basic oxygen furnace (BOF); 2 mtpa DRI plant; a blast furnace -- billed as India's largest; and Rs 100 billion coal gasification plant for making steel based on indigenous coal.
While the coal gasification plant was inaugurated by Pradhan, the other three facilities were inaugurated by Singh.
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Describing Odisha as a fast emerging steel hub, the Singh said the state would contribute one third of the 300 MT of steel proposed to be produced in the country in 12 years.
Accordingly, an investment of Rs 4 trillion would be made in Odisha to raise the steel production in the state to 100 MT in next 12 years, Singh said.
The steel minister described JSPL's coal gasification plant as a boon for Indian steel industry which would substantially reduce import of coking coal.
Stating that around 80 per cent of coking coal is imported by India, Singh said: "We remain dependent on imports (for coking coal) but Naveen (Jindal) has come out with a plan which can make us reduce this dependence."
The new technology of making steel by coal gasification helps in producing the metal using domestic coal, he added.
Asserting that the steel sector has been successfully pulled out of morass by the Modi government, he said the industry has witnessed a spur following introduction of MIP and imposition of anti-dumping duty.
Steel exports have gone up by 132 per cent during the last four years, while imports had declined by around 40 per cent, Singh said, adding that in the coming years 28 per cent of world's vehicles would be made using Indian steel.
Noting that India has become the second largest steel producer in the world surpassing Japan and other countries, Singh said five lakh jobs have been created in the steel sector during last four years.
Stating that India has been depending on foreign countries for steel machineries, he said the government would invite global companies to manufacture these machineries in India with an investment of around 4 trillion.
Pradhan said the coal gasification plant at JSPL's Angul plant shows that with the use of new technologies, diverse forms of energy can be produced which would not only be cost saving but also help in employment generation.
JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal said the 4554 cubic metre Blast Furnace (BF) is India's largest and the 3 MTPA Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) the most modern BOF in the country.
He also said the 2 MTPA DRI Plant at Angul is world's largest syngas-based plant and for the first time a company in India is using coal gasification method for steel making.
"This is for the first time that any company in India is using coal gasification method to make steel," Jindal said.
The coal gasification plant has been set up with an investment of Rs 100 billion and the technology being used was brought from Germany, Jindal said.
The minister added that the new technology of making steel by coal gasification helps in producing the metal using domestic coal.
The company's 6 MTPA plant at Angul is the largest steel manufacturing plant in Odisha, spread across 3,500 acres.
It has 1.5 MTPA rebar mill, 1.2 MTPA plate mill, 2.3 MTPA billet caster, 1.7 MTPA slab caster and 2.75 MTPA new electric oxygen furnace. It also has 810 MW capacity power plant for captive use.
