Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) will construct the world’s largest single site steel mill in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, NSC president Eiji Hashimoto has said in a statement made in Tokyo.
“Our sole intention is to set up the largest and most modern steel plant in Odisha. We want to build a steel plant with a production capacity of 30 million mt per year. Now globally 20 million mt per year is the largest,” Mr. Hashimoto said in the course of an interaction with Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik during the latter’s week-long visit to Japan.
However, there is no clarity yet on how NSC proposes to go about its vision for the world’s largest steel mill in India.
In 2021, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited (AMNS), a joint venture of ArcelorMittal and NSC, signed an agreement with the Odisha government for the construction of a 12 million mt per year capacity greenfield steel mill in the state, entailing an investment of around $6.09 billion. AMNS also concluded an agreement with the state government to construct a second greenfield steel mill of 7 million mt per year with an investment of around $4.6 billion.
According to a statement released by the chief minister’s office, NSC’s greenfield steel mill project will be exclusive for the production of special grade steel and the state government has already extended an invitation to NSC officials to visit Odisha and explore the proposed plant site likely to be located in the Kendrapara district.
