The Hindu Business Line : `Clear-cut policy must for meeting steel plants needs'

(From right) Dr S. K. Gupta, Chairman, Vesuvius India Ltd, Mr Luigi Gramizzi, Executive Vice-President, Vesuvius Group, Mr Biswadip Gupta, Managing Director, and Mr Harsh Neotia, Director, Gujrat Ambuja, at the Vesuvius plant in Kolkata on Tuesday. — A. Roy Chowdhury

Kolkata , Nov. 8

THE West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has presented a strong case for a "clear-cut policy" that will allow inter-State movement of iron ore to meet the raw material requirements of steel plants that are located in States that do not have their own iron ore reserves.

At a function held here on Tuesday to mark the foundation stone-laying of Vesuvius India Ltd's expansion project in Kolkata, Mr Bhattacharjee said he had taken up the matter with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who, in turn, had taken up the issue with the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Mr Arjun Munda.

"There is a clear-cut policy in this regard for coal. No State can refuse to give coal to other States that need it. Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut policy for meeting the requirements of the steel industry. If a clear-cut policy for the steel industry is not announced in this regard, then it will be in the doldrums in the days ahead," he said.

Some time ago, Mr Bhattacharjee had requested Mr Munda to allow steel plants in West Bengal to source their iron ore requirements from Jharkhand. In response, Mr Munda had said Jharkhand would consider the request only after meeting the requirements of Jharkhand.

Earlier, Mr Bhattacharjee laid the foundation stone of Vesuvius India's expansion project that entails a fresh investment of Rs 100 crore. The investment will allow Vesuvius to double its capacity to manufacture refractories that are used in continuous casting of steel. At present, Vesuvius' Kolkata plant manufactures 850 pieces of refractories per day. This will be ramped up to 1,800 pieces within the first quarter of 2007.

The Vesuvius plant was the first foreign direct investment project in West Bengal after the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991. The initial investment at the plant was Rs 30 crore. Since then, however, the cumulative investment by global refractory major Vesuvius in its Indian operations has gone up to Rs 76 crore.

Mr L. Gramizzi, Executive Vice-President of the Vesuvius Group, said Vesuvius India had a special place in Vesuvius Group's worldwide business plans. Besides catering to the refractory needs of the growing domestic steel industry, production from Vesuvius India will also be exported to meet the requirements of the steel industry in the neighbouring countries.

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