Tata Steel Mining Limited (TSML), the wholly-owned mining subsidiary of Indian steelmaker Tata Steel, has firmed up plans to double its ferrochrome manufacturing capacity to 900,000 mt per year, a company official said on Friday, April 16.
Though the company did not disclose the investments in the project, industry analysts said that, based on the thumb rule for the ferrochrome industry, the investment could be to the tune of around $267 million.
“We will take both organic and inorganic routes to augment our ferrochrome production capacity in India leveraging our strength in good quality chrome ore availability,” Sundara Raman, vice president, raw materials, Tata Steel, said. “The idea behind the initiative is to use the chromite ore optimally to make ferrochrome and serve the growing base of Indian and global customers making stainless steel,” Mr. Ramam added.
The Tata Steel official said that the project to double capacity will make TSML the largest ferrochrome producer in the country and among the top five globally, and that it made sense to focus on value addition to chrome ore produced at its own mines.
TSML had acquired three chromite mines in 2020 through auctions - Sukinda Chromite Mine, Saruabil Chromite Mine and Kamarda Chromite Mine - for which leases were granted for 50 years. The mines are now operational with an annual capacity of over 1.5 million mt per year.