SAIL, RINL, NMDC sign MoU, starts Chhattisgarh steel plant project

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Three public sector enterprises under the Ministry of Steel -- the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) -- today signed an MoU here for jointly setting up a four Million Tonne (MT) per annum capacity integrated steel plant in Chhattisgarh.

According to official sources, the three PSEs had decided to enter into a strategic business relationship by forming a joint venture company for setting up of the plant four months ago.

The MoU was signed by G Ojha, Director (Personnel), SAIL, P S Upadhyaya, Director (Technical), NMDC, and M V R Sarma, Executive Director (Corporate Affairs and Strategy), RINL.

It has been decided that the three companies will have equal equity participation in the proposed steel plant which will be set up on a suitable site selected on the basis of a pre-feasibility report to be prepared by a consultant, the sources said.

SAIL, which has expertise in steel, has taken the lead for having the pre-feasibility and feasibility reports prepared for the proposed joint venture and have nominated MECON for the purpose.

NMDC, with expertise in mining, will take the lead for obtaining land, mining leases and statutory clearances required for a greenfield project of this size.

The MoU signed today foresees leveraging of the synergies of the three PSEs to meet the growing demand for steel in India.

SAIL and RINL have resources of skilled and technically competent manpower and are also implementing their own expansion plans for increasing production capacity to meet the growing requirements of a variety of grades of steel in a fast developing economy.

NMDC, India's largest iron ore producer, presently produces 27 MT of ore from mechanised mines at Bailadila in Chhattisgarh and Donimalai in Karnataka.

The proposed integrated steel plant would become a major asset for Chhattisgarh, adding to infrastructure and other related development, the sources added.

UNI