SAIL and Kobe Steel, Japan to set up steel plant

India's largest steel maker Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) on Saturday announced that it is looking forward to its joint-venture with Japan's Kobe Steel for setting up a 0.5 million tonnes per annum iron nugget plant at Durgapur in West Bengal.

Both the steel giant SAIL and Kobe Steel signed a memorandum of agreement (MoU) last year for the proposed Rs.15 billion plant at Durgapur.

Mitsubishi Chemicals' MCC PTA project in Haldia, this project will be the second biggest Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bengal.

"We are going ahead with the Kobe joint-venture. We have already formed the joint-venture company. This is the second project of its kind in the world," SAIL chairman C.S. Verma told reporters.

"Environmental impact assessment studies (for the project) are under progress. Four to five months will be needed for the studies," Verma said.

Upon being asked about SAIL's proposed joint venture with public sector undertaking of Ministry of Railways RITES for setting up wagon manufacturing factory at Kulti in Burdwan district, he said: "There is no further progress. We are studying different options about the project. Let the time come. We will keep all our options open."

He also said till now the company had not taken any firm investment decision and the land for the project is yet to be registered.