India’s ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited (AMNS) has completed a groundbreaking ceremony laying the foundation for construction of an 8.2 million mt per year greenfield steel mill entailing an investment of $65.46 billion in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, a company statement said on Tuesday, March 24.
The project will be constructed in two phases, with a production capacity of 17.8 million mt per year. The first 8.2 million mt phase of the mill will be commissioned by early 2029. An additional investment to the tune of $11 billion will be riding on constructing a captive port with a capacity to handle 50 million mt of freight per year. In the second phase, the capacity of the mill will be further expanded to 17.8 million mt per year with a total investment of around $136.54 billion.
The first phase requires a total land area of 2,200 acres, of which around 890 acres were initially allotted for another project by the government, the company said.
The company said that the existing infrastructure of a slurry pipeline, that originates at NMDC Limited’s Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh state and is currently catering to AMNS’ pellet plant, diverted near Peddapeta village, is one of the primary reasons why the project has been fast tracked.
"The demand for high-quality domestically produced steel will only increase. This unit will produce advanced value-added steel. We are eyeing not just the domestic market, but targeting exports too,” ArcelorMittal chairman Lakshmi Mittal said.
AMNS is a 60:40 joint venture of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Limited, Japan, which had earlier bought out the assets of Essar Steel’s Hazira steel mill in the western state of Gujarat, through the bankruptcy resolution process.