The Steel Ministry on Monday announced a Rs 10,000 crore package for building a hi-tech steel making facility in Steel Authority of India Ltd's Jagdishpur unit.

After visiting the facility to review the ongoing revival work at the Jagdishpur unit, the Steel Minister, Mr Beni Prasad Verma, said that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has also been approached and a request has been sent to them for extending support for natural gas resources. Mr Verma assured that all possible efforts shall be made to expedite the completion of the project.

For Phase-2 development of JSU, discussions with Kobe Steel of Japan were held by a joint task force. SAIL is examining options for setting up a 1,000-MW gas-based power plant and a steel plant based on gas-based DRI (direct reduced iron-making) technology and using Electric Arc Furnace for steel making with value added products.

Kobe plants not hit by quake

Despite of the loss of life and infrastructure in quake-hit Japan, Kobe Steel said that their employees and plants are almost unharmed. Thus, the company will continue joint work of feasibility study on the new steel works at Jagdishpur.

The assets of erstwhile Malvika Steel at Jagdishpur were acquired by SAIL in 2009 and registered in SAIL's name in June 2010. For reviving this set-up and to supply value-added finished products to meet the demand of the region, initially four main units were proposed under Phase-1.

Two units, including a warehouse with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes per annum and a Galvanised Sheet Corrugation unit of capacity 13,000 tonnes per annum are in the final stages of completion and shall be ready for commissioning soon.

Work for two more units under the current phase, a TMT Bar Mill of capacity 150,000 tons per annum and a Crash Barrier Manufacturing unit of capacity 10,000 tons per annum, is progressing according to schedule and shall be completed by November.

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