Posco signs pact with RVNL for project in Orissa

New Delhi, Oct 11 (UNI) Posco India Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Posco, the third largest steel manufacturer in the world, has signed a shareholders agreement with India's Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to participate in a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Haridaspur- Paradeep Railway Line project in Orissa.

According to a Posco release issued here today, the agreement to this effect was signed at Bhubneshwar after which the company has acquired ten per cent equity stake in this new venture involving an investment of Rs 27.5 crore and will have one director on the board. The railway project envisages a total expenditure of Rs 598 crore.

The new rail link will reduce the distance by almost 41 Kilo meters than the existing Haridaspur-Cuttack-Paradeep line allowing faster access to the plant.

The company gurantees 6.48 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) traffic in the first phase increasng the visibilit of this venture.

A 12 MTPA capacity integrated steel plant requires diverse raw materials like iron ore, coal, limestone and various auxiliary materials. Accordingly, the estimated tonnage of raw materials product and slug to be handled by rail transportation is about 9, 19 and 30 MTPA respectively for the three consecutive phases.

UNI/BKS RA RS1811