IIL to spend INR 2,600 crore on expansion - Report

BL reported that Ispat Industries Ltd proposes to spend INR 2,600 crore in the next two years on various projects.

These include a 1 million tonne coke oven plant in a joint venture, a 2 million tonne iron ore pellet project, 110 MW captive power plants, all at the Dolvi steel complex, and an iron ore mining project at Damkodwadi in Maharashtra.

Giving this information to newspersons after the company’s annual general meeting Mr Pramod Mittal chairman said that an estimated INR 480 crore would be spent on the captive power units, another INR 1,100 crore on the coke oven plant, about INR 600 crore on the pellet plant and the balance INR 400 crore on the mining operation. He expected the projects to be commissioned by 2011-12.

He said that Stemcore of the UK will be the partner for the coke oven project while it is an Indian firm for the pellet project. The financial closure for the coke oven project will be completed by November.

Mr Mittal conceded that raw material security was a major concern, more so because globally also the demand for coal and iron ore would steadily increase in coming years. Right now, the company requires 3.6 million tonnes annually of iron ore sourced entirely from National Mineral Development Corporation’s mines.

The move initiated recently would reduce dependence on NMDC mines to 1.6 million tonne within the next two to three years. The commissioning of the one million tonne coke plant will make the company virtually self sufficient in coke.

He however pointed out that the company was also in the process of acquiring stakes, not exceeding 40% in an iron ore mine project in Brazil and coking coal projects in Colombia and Mozambique. The company had been allotted areas in Damkodwadi, Bhamragarh in Maharashtra for prospecting for iron ore. The mining operation there should start by the end of 2010.

He added that a coal block too had been allotted in Madhya Pradesh. The steel and power projects in various States for which MoUs had been signed with respective Governments were at various stages of development.

(Sourced from www.steelguru.com)

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