SAIL- MOIL sign MoU for ferro-alloy production

New Delhi,June 26 (UNI) Public sector company Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL) today signed a memorandum of understanding for the setting up of a joint venture company (JV) to produce ferro-manganese and silico-manganese.

According to official sources, the board of directors of SAIL and MOIL have already given in-principle approval to the proposal for setting up of this JV.

The proposed JV will produce ferro-alloys through three furnaces to be set up in or around Bhilai. Total capital outlay for the proposed JV is estimated to be Rs 225 crore. The company will be incorporated with a debt-equity ratio of 1:1 and 50:50 shareholding by SAIL and MOIL, the sources added.

MOIL has large resources of manganese ore in India and is capable of providing high value added inputs. SAIL decided to enter into a strategic alliance with MOIL to ensure regular and quality supply of manganese ore at competitive cost, a statement said.

The proposed JV will initially supply a projected volume of around 31,000 tonnes of ferro-manganese and 70,000 tonnes of silico-manganese, to meet a part of SAIL's requirement of these ferro-alloys to produce 24 Million Tonnes (MT) of crude steel as a part of its growth plan by 2010.

Maharashtra Elektrosmelt Ltd, a SAIL subsidiary, already supplies around 55,000 tonnes of ferro-manganese and 44,500 tonnes of silico-manganese to the steel producer, but this does not meet the company's entire requirement of the ferro-alloys, the statement added.

UNI