The government of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will go it alone in constructing a greenfield steel mill in the state, a senior government official said on Tuesday, November 6.
The official said that the state cabinet of ministers is expected to approve the setting up of the steel mill within this month.
The government of Andhra Pradesh will construct the steel mill through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which will raise the necessary funds from financial institutions, the official said.
The project is likely to be located in the Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh and, once the project is approved by the state government, a consultant will be appointed to prepare a detailed project report including configuration of the proposed steel mill.
The official said that the decision of the state government to go it alone in taking up the project came as the federal government failed to push ahead with the project as assured while carving out Andhra Pradesh to create the new state of Telangana in 2014.
The central government also failed to push Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) to take up the project, with the latter backing out, citing a shortage of sufficient volumes of iron ore in the region, the official added.