Italy's Danieli to set up Rs 500-cr plant

Italy-based Danieli, which supplies equipment and plants to the steel industry, would set up a manufacturing plant at Sri City special economic zone in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.

State industries secretary TS Appa Rao told reporters that the proposed facility would involve an investment of Rs 400-500 crore, and is expected to be ready in a year. It is the world’s third largest supplier of equipment and plants to the metal industry. It operates six facilities in Germany, France, Sweden, Thailand and China apart from Italy.

Rao said that apart from Danieli, more such proposals were under discussions, but did not give details.

This is the second major foreign investment proposal in the manufacturing sector in the state in 2011, after the US-based Brighton Energy’s Rs 2,700-crore nuclear equipment facility in Visakhapatnam district announced in January.

Earlier, speaking at ManExe-2011 event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Rao said it was now the policy of the state government to give the highest priority to equipment-manufacturing companies.

“We are concentrating mostly on companies, which manufacture industrial equipment and machinery that is used in other manufacturing sector industries,” he said.