Tata Steel Gopalpur unit to go on stream by year end

Tata Steel has set a fresh target of December, 2015 for commissioning of 55,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) capacity ferrochrome plant at Gopalpur in Odisha.

With this, the steel major has shifted the commissioning date of the project twice. It was first scheduled for March, 2015 and then it got shifted to July 2015.

"Due to the delay in instalment of some power transmitters for supply of power to the project, the work was delayed for about five months" said Arun Mishra, vice president, Gopalpur Project of Tata Steel.

He, however, said around 75 percent work of the plant has been completed. "The work is going on in full swing and we hope it will take another five months to complete", he added.

The ferrochrome plant is the anchor project of the proposed Industrial Park being put up by Tata Steel in the area. Besides this 55,000 tpa ferrochrome plant, the company also intends to set up a second ferro-alloys unit with 2.40 tpa capacity at the same place, which would catapult Gopalpur as the largest ferrochrome producing centre in the whole Asia.

The work on the second unit would start after getting the environment clearance from the Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoFE), sources said. The combined investment in both the units is estimated at Rs 1200-crore. While the first unit will cost Rs 400-crore, the second unit is estimated at Rs 800-crore.

Spread over 2970-acres of land, the Industrial Park will have a provision for a multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The two ferrochrome plants in the park will consume 400-acres.

The land where the Industrial Park is being set up was acquired by Tata Steel in 1996 for setting up of a shore-based mega steel plant. But the company later shelved the steel project and decided to set up the Industrial Park and the SEZ there.

The company also proposed to set up a 0.4 million tonne re-bar mill and a de-salination plant to provide water to the units to come up in the Industrial Park.

Development of the SEZ is also at an advance stage, company sources said. The Singapur-based consultant company Jurong is developing its master plan. A team of the company had visited the site recently. "Gopalpur is now the top priority for the company for which Tata Group's chairman Cyprus Mistry had visited the area last year", said an official.