SAIL to set up Rs 60,000 Crore steel project in Jharkhand
merisarkar news service
New Delhi, May 16, 2010
SAIL to set up a steel plant in Jharkhand
Public sector steel maker Steel Authority of India Limited is planning to set up a steel project in Jharkhand at an estimated cost of Rs 60,000 crore.
The plant, which is expected to be built on the land of a closed fertiliser mill in Sindri, Dhanbad district, would help the company raise its annual steel production to 60 million tonnes by 2020.
Officials say that the company has already applied to the ministry of chemical and fertilisers for setting up the 12 million- tonne per annum plant.
"The integrated steel project would come up in two phases," they say.
As per the proposal, the PSU would also set up a 1.15 million-tonne coal or gas-based urea plant at the site.
The loss-making state owned fertiliser plant in Sindri had been shut in March 2002.
Seniour officials say that in order to avoid problems relating to land acquisition, public as well as private sector firms should seek land belonging to closed mills, especially ones located in the mineral-rich states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chattisgarh.
SAIL is currently in talks with South Korean steelmaker POSCO to jointly set up two steel plants in the country.
Global firms like ArcelorMittal and Kobe Steel have also approached SAIL for setting up steel plants in the country.
