SAIL look to expand Rourkela unit capacity to 10 mnt

Expansion plan is set to cost public sector steel major in excess of Rs 30,000 crore

Public sector steel behemoth Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is looking to expand capacity of its Rourkela unit to 10 million tonne per annum (mtpa) up from 4.5 mtpa now.

The expansion plan is set to cost SAIL in excess of Rs 30,000 crore considering the thumb rule that Rs 6,000-7,000 crore is needed for every million tonne of brownfield steel ramp up.

"There is the Indian government initiative to reach 300 mnt of steel production in the next 10 years wherein the capacity of our Rourkela steel plant will also be expanded. As of now, we need to stablise our modernization plan at Rourkela and then we will go for further expansion. The steel plant at Rourkela can reach a steel making capacity of 10 mnt in the next 10-15 years," said P K Singh, chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of SAIL.

The SAIL CMD met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other top state officials. The state government has urged the steel PSU to set up a cement plant at Purunapani in Sundargarh district and a skill development institute at Rourkela. The government also proposed to SAIL to set up a medical college-cum-hospital at Rourkela.

Asked if introduction of anti-dumping duty was enough to address concerns of steel players, Singh said: "The policy initiatives taken by the central government are very appropriate. The MIP (minimum import price) has been extended for two months. Plus, the anti-dumping duty on flat products is essential to shield the domestic players from cheaper imports."

Singh said, the steel industry is passing through a very challenging phase amid global overcapacity in steel. SAIL, however, had not resorted to capacity curtailment, he added.