Tata Steel ferrochrome plant at Gopalpur by July

Tata Steel expects to start the operation of its ferrochrome plant coming up at Gopalpur by June 2015 with a capacity of 50,000 tonne per annum in the first phase.

"In the first phase, the 50,000 tonne per annum ferrochrome plant will start operation by June-July and the work on another plant with 2,50,000 tonne per annum capacity will start immediately after that. The investment in the first phase is Rs 800 crore," Arun Misra, vice president, Tata Steel (Gopalpur projects) told media persons on the sidelines of a seminar on "Energy Efficient Steel and Aluminium Making Technologies: Research and Applications", organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Odisha chapter.

Spanning over 2,970 acres of land, the industrial park at Gopalpur includes a multi-product SEZ over 2,570 acres and an anchor project by Tata Steel over 400 acres, according to Tata Steel's website.

"We are looking at the cleaner industries like electronics complex, semi-conductor complex, IT units in the SEZ as it is closer to the sea coast," Misra said.

The company aims to attract investments to the tune of Rs 15,000 - Rs 20,000 crore and generate direct and indirect job opportunities for more than 10,000 people.

To draw investors to the SEZ, Tata Steel is planning to have road shows by March at Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore among others. Speaking on the occasion, Anusman Das, Chairman, CII, Odisha council said, the steel industry consumes about 500 kw energy for production of one tonne of steel while it is 14,000 to 15,000 kw electricity for production one tonne of aluminium.

As per the national steel policy, the target for reduction of energy consumption is 25-28 per cent by 2025.

Presently, India produces about 1.7 million tonne of aluminium and 80 million tonne of steel and the outputs are likely to triple by 2025.