India now 3rd largest steel producer, says Union Steel minister

Bengaluru, Jul 8 (DHNS): The State government, along with public sector mining company National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), will set up a steel plant of three million tonne per annum (MTPA) capacity at a yet-to-be-identified location in the State.

Addressing a press conference after a consultative meeting of the ministry of mines in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Union Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar said the likely investment for the steel plant is Rs 18,000 crore. The plant will be expanded to cater to a capacity of six MTPA in a phased manner.

The minister said that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed with the State government and a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) would be constituted for setting up the steel plant. Coal allocation for the plant would also finalised by the Centre soon, Tomar said.

He said three other steel plants with three MTPA capacity will be set up in Jharkhand, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. The MoUs for the Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh plants have already been signed, he said.

In 2010, NMDC had signed an MoU with Russia’s Severstal to build a three-MTPA steel plant in Ballari. However, Severstal withdrew as NMDC was not willing to let it get a majority stake in the plant.

Replying to queries, Tomar said that the Centre will come out with rules for constituting District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in districts having mines soon, which will be funded by an additional levy related to royalty. The funds would be utilised for environmental protection, overall development and welfare of the people living in mines areas, he said. Around Rs 10,000 crore is expected to be generated during the next one year under the scheme, he said.

Tomar said his ministry has chalked out an action plan to achieve the target of 300 million tonne production capacity by 2025.

At the consultative meeting, several suggestions were made for expansion and modernisation of existing steel plants and enhancement of mineral explorations, he said.
The Steel Research and Technology Mission of India promotes collaborative research programmes in steel sector, particularly in the field of auto steel for which the country is dependent on imports, he said. The Centre had allotted Rs 100 crore from the Steel Development Fund and private industries had chipped in with another Rs 212 crore for a corpus fund for research in steel sector, he said.

He said several provisions have been included in the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act for expediting mineral exploration activities in the country. Under its provisions, seven mining agencies have been notified to carry out exploration in freehold areas besides Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited.

He said GSI is planning to procure a new geotechnical vessel which can approach very shallow areas near the sea coast and drill up to 30 metre below the seabed. GSI is also modernising its drilling fleet, laboratories and scientific instruments, the minister said.

Tomar said India, which was the fourth largest steel producer in the world after China, Japan and the US, has achieved the third position in the last five months.