SAIL's Rourkela unit to offer inputs for automotive JV with ArcelorMittal

JV to invest $1 billion in plant for making technologically advanced steel products

The Rourkela steel making unit of maharatna PSU Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) would provide hot-rolled input products for the automotive steel joint venture proposed with ArcelorMittal, the biggest steel maker.

The planned automotive facility would source the input products from SAIL's new state-of-the-art hot strip mill in Rourkela (Odisha), thus making the entire value chain indigenous.

ArcelorMittal and SAIL had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in May 2015 to explore the possibility of setting up a state-of-the-art automotive steel manufacturing facility under a JV arrangement in India. The project cost is estimated at $1 billion.

The proposed JV will construct world-class facilities for manufacturing automotive steel that will offer technologically advanced steel products for India's rapidly growing automotive sector.

The project's Joint Working Group, which was established following the signing of the MoU, has completed the major part of the project's feasibility report.

On August 30, ArcelorMittal and SAIL had discussions in London on the proposed automotive JV project. The meeting was attended by Union steel minister Chaudhury Birender Singh, SAIL chairman PK Singh and ArcelorMittal chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Lakshmi Mittal. Aditya Mittal, group chief financial officer and Brian Aranha, executive vice president and head of global automotive business at ArcelorMittal were also present during the discussions.

India is poised to become the world's third largest automobile manufacturing nation by 2026, with passenger vehicles likely to grow from approximately three million units today to over seven million units in the next 10 years. In response to the growing level of automotive demand, and supported by the Government of India's 'Make In India' programme which has been designed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub, automotive manufacturers have been establishing an increased presence in the country.