SAIL to set up Rs 85 cr unit in UP

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will set up a steel processing unit in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 85 crore.

The processing unit will have an installed capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum and produce TMT (thermo mechanically treated) bars from input material sourced from SAIL’s integrated steel plants.

Union Steel and Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan laid the foundation stone for the project yesterday.

Pursuing its strategy to meet market demand for tailor-made steel products and help increase per capita steel consumption in rural areas, SAIL is setting up steel processing units at those places where it does not have any production facility.

Expected to be completed in 18 months, the UP unit will have a TMT bar mill with 60,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) capacity for TMT bars of 8-12 mm diameter and 40,000 tpa capacity for sizes 16-25 mm.

Asking SAIL to enhance the project cost to Rs 100 crore, Mr Paswan said the project will boost several ancillary and small scale industries in the region.

SAIL chairman S K Roongta said the company had a market presence of 26 per cent in UP. “SAIL is planning to add additional 44 dealers to its network of 267 dealers to cater to one of India's largest state, which accounts for 11 per cent of India’s total steel consumption.”

SAIL has 4 branch sales offices in UP and 5 warehouses equipped with mechanized handling systems.

SAIL is setting up 11 steel processing units in 7 states. The foundation stones have so far been laid at Betiah, Mahnar and Gaya in Bihar; Gwalior, Ujjain and Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir.