• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Phalguna Jandhyala

Hyderabad, Dec. 30 The National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (NMDC) has evinced interest in setting up a steel plant in Bellary district of Karnataka.

“The Karnataka Government recently unveiled a policy, which states that mines will be allotted to those with value-added projects in the State. So if we have to acquire new mines in Karnataka, NMDC has to set up a steel plant there,” Mr Rana Som, Chairman and Managing Director, National Mineral Development Corporation, told Business Line.

He added, “We have told the Karnataka Government that if the company is allotted new and rich mines, NMDC is prepared to make investments for steel making in the State.”

The company currently operates two iron ore mines in Karnataka, Kumaraswamy and Donimalai. NMDC is also in the process of setting up a three-million-tonne Greenfield steel plant at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh. The projected investment is around Rs 14,000 crore.

“We have also conveyed that depending on the size of the mine and amount of reserves it contains, we are ready to develop a steel plant of 10 mt,” Mr Som said.

Apart from providing new mines, NMDC has also asked the Karnataka Government to provide land, water, power and coal block for setting up the plant.

Mr Som said that it is too early to comment on the type of investment that would be required for setting up the steel plant as the proposal is in the initial stages. “The proposal will be converted into a detailed project report, provided NMDC gets an in-principle approval from the Karnataka Government on the issues that the company has put before it,” he said.

The policy calls for demarcating mining zones and granting concessions. New licences will be pre-conditioned to value addition in the State without destabilising the State’s forest wealth and bio-diversity. Also, existing licence holders would be permitted to continue to sell and export.

More Stories on : Outlook | Steel | Karnataka

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line