MEL to invest Rs 200 cr in capacity expansion

Maharashtra Electrosmelt (MEL), a SAIL subsidiary, will invest Rs 200 crore to set up a furnace with capacity of 42,000 tonnes per annum at its Chandrapur plant.

"MEL board has already cleared the expansion proposal and it has been sent to the sub-committee of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) board for approval," MEL sources said.

It would require an investment of around Rs 200 crore and once it is cleared by the sub-committee, global tenders would be floated for the purpose, sources said.

It would take two years from the date of placement of the order to get the furnace commissioned, sources said. This furnace for the Chandrapur plant will have a capacity of 42,000 tonnes per annum for increasing production of silico manganese.

MEL, at present, supplies 50,000 tonnes of ferro manganese required by SAIL plants, besides meeting 40 per cent demand for silico manganese, sources said.

Post expansion, MEL would be in a position to fulfill 70 per cent silico manganese requirements by SAIL plants, sources said.

Apart from capacity expansion, a 67.5 mega watt (MW) power plant has been proposed to be set up at Chandrapur by NSPCL, a joint venture company of NTPC and SAIL, to reduce MEL's dependence on external sources of electricity, sources said.

Sources said the proposal for a power plant is now at a preliminary stage.

Currently, MEL has a power plant with 4.2 MW capacity, which is fired by the gas generated in a blast furnace.