Steel Authority of India Ltd is expected to sign a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Kobe Steel within 3 to 4 months that will help it acquire the Japanese company's patented technology.

Mr CS Verma chairman of SAIL after meeting West Bengal chief minister Ms Mamata Banerjee said that "We are engaged in a feasibility study about the proposed venture. We are also finalizing the JV agreement and hope to complete it in the next three to four months. Following this, we are looking at finalizing the JV.”

The two companies are in talks to set up a 0.5 million tonne Greenfield steel plant in India utilizing Kobe Steel's pioneering steel-making technology, used for value added applications.

Mr Verma said that "The 0.5 million tonne project with Kobe would be implemented at Alloy Steels Plant at Durgapur and the investment would be INR 1,500 crore.”

The new unit will put into use Kobe Steel's iron making technology to make nuggets. It will produce a special type of alloy steel which will have specific applications.

(Sourced from BS)