RINL to invest Rs 60K cr to have 20 MT capacity by 2027

New units will be commissioned this month raising company's capacity to 6.3 MTPA

State-owned steelmaker RINL is looking to invest Rs 60,000 crore on tripling capacity to 20 million tonne by 2027, a top company official said today.

The company is in the process of stabilising new units under the current phase of expansion that got delayed by over a year following an accident at its Vizag plant.

The new units, a wire rod mill and steel melting shop, will be commissioned this month raising Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd's capacity to 6.3 MTPA, from 3 MTPA, RINL chairman A P Choudhary told reporters here.

"Thereafter, we will increase capacity by additional 1 MT through modernisation of our old units. We have also revived the plan to set up a 4 MT new unit for flat products and it is under consideration," he said, adding that new flat mill is targeted to be commissioned by 2019-20.

The company is also open to the joint venture route for the new flat mill but has not taken any decision so far, Choudhary said.

"In total, RINL will have 20 MTPA capacity at an investment of over Rs 60,000 crore investments by 2027. Then, there are projects other than expansion, which are worth Rs 10,000 crore," he said, adding that it will be funded through a mix of debt and equity but no decision has been taken yet.

RINL has also moved into manufacturing of value-added end-user products and backward integration. It is setting up a factory to make 1 lakh forged wheels per annum in Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh and a 50,000 axles manufacturing factory in New Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. Together, the projects would cost about Rs 1,500 crore.

The company, which has been dependent on state-owned NMDC for meeting its iron ore requirements, has secured a mine, Purn Banera, in Rajasthan and is in the process of getting another mine in the state.

"We have got one iron ore mine in Rajasthan and the State Cabinet has already recommended second mine, Jhajpur, to be alloted to us to the Mines Ministry. First mine has about 267 million tonne (MT) reserves, while the second has 400 MT reserves," the RINL chief said.

The company plans to set up an iron ore beneficiation and a pellet plant of 5 MTPA each in Rajasthan as the mines contain low grade magnetite. The company is also looking at securing an iron ore mine in Uttar Pradesh.