The Hindu Business Line : Posco plans $1-b processing plant in Maharashtra; land acquisition under way

Nuts and bolts
Company is keen to use Dighi port, which is close to Vile Bhagad, for transporting raw materials and finished goods.
Vile Bhagad area has drinking water projects and water bodies in the vicinity of the project.

Rahul Wadke

Mumbai, Feb. 5 The South-Korean steel manufacturer Posco is planning a $1-billion (Rs 4,800-crore) greenfield steel processing facility in Maharashtra.

The land acquisition process for the project is under way at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation-run Vile Bhagad industrial estate in Raigad district, a State Government official told Business Line.

State Government sources said the company is bullish about investment in the State in spite of the global meltdown and the sharp decline in global steel prices.

The company is planning to carry out the investment in phases. It is keen to use Dighi port, which is close to Vile Bhagad, for transporting raw materials and finished goods. It plans to import steel using the port and process it at the Vile Bhagad and sell it to local customers.

Posco officials are keen to have good infrastructure from Dighi to Vile Bhagad, to be able to handle trucks with higher carrying capacity. Consequently, the Public Works Department has been instructed to include the existing three roads from Dighi under its road upgradation plan.

The project could also take advantage of the port from the fact that Dighi is already a part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and plans are afoot to link the port with the Konkan Railway, a source said.

Road-blocks to project

The company is tight-lipped about the nature of projects it wants to undertake and has also asked the State Government officials to maintain secrecy over the project. The investment in the State is independent of its other mega investments in Orissa.

One of the roadblocks for the project in Vile Bhagad area is the presence of drinking water projects and water bodies in the vicinity of the project. The issue of effluent management from the plant is being considered by the company, sources said.

Sources said that senior officials of the Maharashtra Government and MIDC in their discussions with Posco officials have raised the issue of effluent management. Solutions are being deliberated to resolve the issue.

Posco officials did not respond to an e-mail query about the project.