The Hindu Business Line : Tata Steel plans to hike output to 15 mt per annum

TATA Steel is firming up plans to augment its production capacity to 15 million tonne per annum by 2010. At present, the steel major's production capacity stands at 4.5 million tonne per annum. By 2010, the annual total steel production in India is estimated to be 60-70 million tonne, up from about 34 million tonne at present.

Stating this during an interface with newspersons at Jamshedpur, the Managing Director of Tata Steel, Mr B. Muthuraman, said that 50 per cent of the proposed 15 million tonne of steel would be produced in India while the rest would be produced at manufacturing facilities outside the country. Among the possible overseas locations where Tata Steel may set up steel manufacturing capacities were China, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Ukraine.

With regard to setting up another steel manufacturing facility within the country, Mr Muthuraman said the ideal location would be a shore-based plant. In this context, he mentioned Dhamra and Gopalpur in Orissa where Tata Steel's proposed second manufacturing facility could well be set up. He said Gopalpur was still in the reckoning but infrastructure facilities such as power, rail, roads, etc, would have to be put in place there before a final decision could be taken.

According to him, Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro have formed a 50:50 partnership to set up a port at Dhamra, the first phase of which would entail an investment of Rs 1,400 crore. The port would have a capacity to handle about 13 million tonne of cargo, to begin with.

Tata Steel has also forged a partnership with West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation with a view to setting up a coke manufacturing plant at Haldia at an estimated investment of Rs 350 crore. In the first phase, the proposed coke plant would have an annual manufacturing capacity of 0.6 million tonne, according to Mr Muthuraman.