Vizag Steel Plant to Invest Rs.38,500 Crore for Expansion

Visakhapatnam, Jan 11 (IANS) The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant on Monday signed a MoU with Andhra Pradesh for expansion, with an investment of Rs.38,500 crore.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, signed the pact during the CII Partnership Summit here.

P.C. Mohapatra, Director (Projects), RINL, and Kartikeya Misra, Director of Industries in the Andhra Pradesh government, exchanged the Memorandum of Undertaking copies.

The MoU envisages investment of around Rs.38,500 crore to expand the plant capacity in two phases and for taking up other projects. This is expected to create employment opportunity for around 3,000 people.

The steel plant's capacity will be expanded from the existing 6.3 tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 7.3 mtpa through modernization with an investment of Rs.3,600 crore.

The capacity will be further expanded to 11.5-12 mtpa with an estimated investment of Rs.25,000 crore.

Officials said the first phase of expansion was likely to be achieved by 2018.

Another Rs.3,400 crore will be invested for construction of Coke Oven Battery-5 and other projects.

A Slurry Pipeline and Pellet Plant will be established at a cost of Rs.6,100 crore under the joint venture with National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC) and others.

Under a joint venture with Power Grid, transmission line tower project will be taken up with an investment of Rs.330 crore.

As per the MoU, the Andhra government will support the company's participation in significant projects in the state, wherever feasible. Such participation may include providing advisory services and setting up manufacturing facilities, according to a statement from RINL.

In turn, RINL can support the development of infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh, considering the government's focus on promoting manufacturing and industrialization in the state and facilitating conducive investment environment.

P. Madhusudna, CMD, RINL, met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who assured all necessary support to RINL in its journey towards 12 mtpa Plant.