Indian government-owned steel producer Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has commenced scouting for land to locate its proposed joint venture with ArcelorMittal for the manufacture of auto grade steel, government officials said on Thursday, May 24.
As part of its scouting, SAIL has communicated to the government of the eastern Indian state of Odisha envisioning interest in locating the plant in the region, the officials said.
In selecting the location of the project, SAIL will be taking into consideration the parameters of availability of inputs, infrastructure support and fiscal incentives expected to be offered by the local government, the officials said.
The fact that Odisha is the host state of several steel mills belonging to SAIL, Tata Steel and JSW Limited is expected to weigh in favor of locating the SAIL-ArcelorMittal joint venture steel plant in the region, the officials added.
The option of sourcing input for the proposed auto grade steel plant from the SAIL steel mill in Rourkela, also in Odisha, will be taken into consideration in the final choice of land for the project.
SAIL and ArcelorMittal had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2015 to set up a 1.5 million mt capacity plant for the manufacture of auto grade steel in India.