The Hindu Business Line : RINL, NMDC in pact to set up sponge iron plant in Chhattisgarh

The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Mr Y. Sivasagara Rao (left), and the National Mineral Development Corporation CMD, Mr Ramesh Kumar, exchanging documents of MoU at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant on Friday for setting up a sponge iron plant in Chhattisgarh as a joint venture.

Visakhapatnam , Sept. 16

RASHTRIYA Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) signed a memorandum of understanding here on Friday to set up a pellet/sponge iron plant in Chattisgarh as a joint venture.

According to a brief press release issued by the steel plant authorities here, "It will open up opportunities for value-addition in the State of Chattisgarh, enabling NMDC to obtain additional mining leases and also for meeting the enhanced requirements of RINL in view of the expansion of the plant."

The MoU was signed by the Chairman and Managing Director of RINL, Mr Y. Sivasagara Rao, and the Chairman and Managing Director of NMDC, Mr Ramesh Kumar.

Mr P.K. Bishnoi, Director (Finance); Mr K.K Rao, Director (Operations), and senior officials of NMDC were present on the occasion.

According to steel plant authorities, the project cost and other details have to be worked out and "it is still in the preliminary stage."

RINL waiting to expand: It may be noted that RINL's expansion proposal is awaiting clearance by the Union Cabinet. The expansion plan envisages increasing the capacity of the steel plant from 3.6 million tonnes (liquid steel) to 6.3 million tonnes.

One of the major problems faced by RINL is that it does not have captive iron ore mines and all its efforts to acquire such mines have made no headway so far. RINL authorities have approached Orissa and Chattisgarh for iron ore leases, but it is learnt that these States are insisting on value-addition at the pithead for acceding to the request.

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