SAIL to invest Rs150 crore in J&K steel plant
23 Sep 2008
New Delhi: Public sector steel giant Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will construct a steel processing unit in Lassipora Industrial Estate in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The company will inves Rs150 crore in the plant, which will have a production capacity of one lakh-tonne per annum, is expected to be operational by 2010, said SAIL.
Steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who laid the foundation stone of the plant said that the unit would manufacture finished products such as TMT bars in 8 to 25 mm diameter and galvanised corrugated sheets from input materials sourced from SAIL's integrated steel plants.
The unit will have a TMT bar mill with 40,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) capacity and cut-to-length and corrugation line of 60,000 tpa capacity for GP coils/sheets.
Spanning across 25 acres, the unit will provide employment to nearly 5,000 people, which would include major local recruitements, said Paswan.
Speaking on the growing market for steel in India, Paswan noted that steel production in the last four years increased from 35 million tonnes per annum to 59 million tonnes.
With more new setups, India aimed to reach a target of 124 million tonnes within the next three years, added Paswan.
SAIL's processing unit in Jammu and Kashmir is part of its initiative to set up stell processing units (SPUs) in places where it does not have any production facility but demand for steel remained high.
The steel minister thanked the J&K government for providing land for the project on priority and urged SAIL to explore the possibility of increasing investment in the state to enhance development.
SAIL's first SPU is coming up in Betiah in Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs 236 crore, which will have the capacity to produce 265,000 tonnes of TMT bars and pipes.
Another SPU in Mahnar, Bihar, being set up in two phases at a cost of around Rs 265 crore, will have the capacity to produce 1.5 lakh tonnes of black and galvanised tubes and 1 lakh tonnes of TMT bars, and will also have coil cutting and corrugation facilities. The company is also setting up three SPUs in Madhya Pradesh.
