Indian state-run steel producer, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and Posco, South Korea have set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) to explore setting up a 5 million mt steel mill close to existing RINL steel mill at southern Indian port town of Vishakhapatnam, a government source said.
He said that the India’s Ministry of Steel facilitated a meeting between RINL and Posco through video conferencing last month leading to decision to setting up of the JWG as first step towards setting up such a steel mill.
It was decided that the JWG will facilitate a move towards signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two companies to construct a 5 million mt per year steel mill entailing an estimated investment of around $4.67 billion on land available with RINL at Vishakhapatnam, the source said.
The Ministry of Steel on its part assured both the companies of facilitating assured supplies of iron ore to the proposed steel mill as RINL, which operates a single site steel mill, does not have any captive iron ore mine, the source said.
This was Posco’s second attempt of constructing a steel mill in India, after move initiated in 2005 to construct a 12 million mt per year Greenfield steel mill in Paradip port town in Odisha but the project was subsequently aborted on issues of land acquisition.