The Hindu Business Line : Orissa Sponge Iron plans steel plant in Karnataka

ORISSA Sponge Iron Ltd is looking into the possibility of setting up a 2.5-lakh tonne a year steel manufacturing plant in the Bellary region in Karnataka at an investment of about Rs 200 crore.

Mr Munir Mohanty, Director, Torsteel Ltd, which has been promoted by the same promoters of Orissa Sponge Iron Ltd, told presspersons here on Thursday that the plant could come up at either Hassan or Chitradurg.

This is part of Orissa Sponge Iron's plans to expand its steel-making capacity. It is expanding capacity at its plant in Palaspanga in Keonjhar district of Orissa from 2.5 lakh tonnes a year to 10 lakh tonnes by 2010, at a cost of Rs 800 crore.

The Torsteel Research Foundation of India (TRFI) and Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd have promoted Orissa Sponge Iron Ltd.

This capacity expansion at the Orissa plant and the proposal to set up a steel making unit in the southern region is to ensure that Torsteel Ltd, also promoted by TRFI, has control over the steel billets that go into making the TOR rebars. Torsteel Ltd recently launched TOR alloy rebars. TOR steel is a high strength concrete reinforcing steel used in the construction industry.

TRFI has also launched a chain of retail outlets called Torshop, which will be run by franchisees, to sell TOR alloy rebars. These retail outlets have been launched in Bangalore and Chennai and by September will be opened in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

He said that henceforth all TOR (a trademark owned by TRFI) steel products would be available only through Torshop outlets.

Currently, about 10 lakh tonnes of TOR steel is being sold in the country every year, produced by about 30 licensees using steel billets from sources identified by Torsteel Ltd. The company would now work with about 20 licensees, providing them with steel billets required for making the rebars. This would ensure that the company is able to guarantee quality right from the raw material stage, he said.

He said with the new system in place, the company anticipated a fall in sales of TOR steel to 1 lakh tonnes in the first year, after which it would go up to 2.5 lakh tonnes in the second year and to 5 lakh tonnes by 2008.

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