Tisco Not To Relocate Gopalpur Plant

Addressing a press conference to announce Tisco's Rs 500 crore bond issue, Irani said the company had looked for alternate site for setting up the steel plant but it was not possible to shift it. The plant would be set up on the chosen site and not anywhere else.

Tisco had found the suitable site at Gopalpur after examining 19 sites in different states.

Former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik encouraged Tisco to put up its plant in the state, the present Congress government had also given its full support to it and Chief Minister J B Patnaik had assured Tata Iron &Steel Company the plant would come up at the chosen site.

 

Asked about financial tieup for the Gopalpur plant, Irani said nothing has been finalised.

For the first portion, including placement of order and land acquisition, the company might have to go to the public two years from now.

Expressing confidence that the new plant would come as scheduled, Irani said the company had already entered into agreement with Nippon Steel for consultancy for the cold rolling mill which would be set up first.

Irani said the proceeds of the Rs 500 crore secured reedemable non-convertible bonds would be utilised to fund the capital expenditure programme, which included the last and phase four modernisation programme in Jamshedpur, involving an expenditure of Rs 3,000 crore.

Under the update programme, obsolete facilities would be phased out and the production capabilities of other facilities would be enhanced and thoroughly modernised.

The capacity of the flat product complex would be doubled to 2 million tonnes and two new coke oven batteries with a combined capacity of one million tonne would be set up in the phase four update.

After the completion of the modernisation, Tata Steel's capacity at Jamshedpur would go up from three million tonnes to 3.5 million tonnes. The saleable steel capacity would increase from the current 2.70 million tonnes to 3.20 million tonnes by 1999.

This would give Tisco a competitive edge in the domestic market.

Apart from the proceeds of the bond issue, Tisco would generate funds from internal resources of Rs 800-Rs 900 crore and go for foreign commercial loan of $200 million, besides taking Rs 450 crore from the steel development fund for the Jamshedpur update programme.

Irani said Tisco would be the most modern plant in the world after the completion of modernisation programme by 2000.

Tata Iron & Steel Company (Tisco) is coming out with three types of bonds