RINL commits steel plant at Bayyaram, with a rider

Says it will depend on the quality, quantum of iron ore available thereA Visakhapatnam: Amid political uproar over the allotment of iron ore reserves in Khammam district to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited that operates the plant came forward with an announcement that it would set up beneficiation plant, pelletisation plant and a steel mill at Bayyaram depending on the quantum of iron ore reserves available there and other proposed allotment of mines in Warangal and Karimnagar districts. "For this the company will immediately commence scientific exploration in these areas which was not done so far to know the exact quantum of reserves," A P Choudhary, Chairman and Managing Director, RINL, said in statement on Thursday. The steel major has come out with the statement after Telangana leaders have raised hue and cry against the state government's proposal of allotment of ore mines to the company. RINL, despite being major steel producer in the country, is operating without any captive iron ore and coal mines. For iron ore securitization, RINL has applied for seven mining leases in Andhra Pradesh since 2005. RINL has also signed an MoU with AP government with a commitment to invest Rs. 42,400 crore in the state. For this, the state government had agreed to facilitate allotment of iron ore mines to RINL on priority basisi, the statement added. The CMD further said RINL had drawn an ambitious corporate plan to expand its capacity to 20 mtpa in phases by 2025, which would make VSP the largest steel plant in a single location in the country. In line with this plan, RINL is on the verge of completing its expansion to double its capacity to 6.3 mtpa and to 7.3 mtpa through modernization and upgradation, he added. Several units including blast furnace in the ongoing expansion have been commissioned and they are in the operation. From new blast furnace over 1 million tonne of hot metal has already been produced. The remaining units of expansion are under advance stage of commission to be progressively completed by 2013-14. The CMD said the company had already got approval for investments of over Rs. 17,000 crore. The additional investment of around Rs.25,000 crore which pertains to the next phase of expansion to 12 mtpa, is linked to assured iron ore linkage by the AP government, the CMD explained. He said the recent announcement of allotment of iron ore mines was an important milestone. Choudhary requested the state government to take forward the proposals as quickly as possible to Ministry of Mines, for their approval and subsequently issue LOI. RINL will honour all the statutory, legal and regulatory stipulations in respect of mining leases recommended for allotment which include MMDR Act 1957, forest and environmental clearances with special reference to Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 making it obligatory for obtaining the prospective mining and also for obtaining mining lease after exploration. As per the MOU, the state government will facilitate RINL to obtain necessary permissions, registrations, approvals and clearances from the concerned departments, he said.