India’s Ministry of Steel has proposed setting up a steel mill for production of cold rolled coil (CRC) at Kadapa in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, sources in the government said on Monday, November 27.
The sources said that the proposal which will entail an investment to the tune of $900 million has been communicated to the government of Andhra Pradesh. They said that, although the final contours of the project will be determined after preparation of a detailed project report, the proposed mill has been conceived for production of CRC from steel sheets and strip sourced from the domestic steel industry for conversion and value addition.
The project will be implemented under "supervision" of Indian government-owned steelmaker Steel Authority of India Limited, though the final ownership structure of the company will be finalized in consultation with the Andhra Pradesh government, the sources added.
However, a section of management of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) which operates a coast-based steel mill at Vishkhapatnam close to Kadapa has expressed concern over the decision to set up a stand-alone CRC mill.
The sources said that RINL advocates using its location at Vishakhapatnam to construct a sheet mill to roll out CRC, as this will be in line with RINL’s plans to expand into value-added steel products and to shift from being a predominantly long product company.