PTI reported that Steel Authority of India Limited and Japanese Kobe Steel will sign an agreement for setting up 500,000 tonne plant in West Bengal on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Ministers of both the countries.

SAIL and Kobe had signed MoU for the project in November last year in Tokyo.

As per report “Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Mr Yoshihiko Noda will be present at the Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony between Steel Authority of India and Kobe Steel on December 28.”

The 50:50 joint venture between the two would produce special grade steel at SAIL's Durgapur Alloy Steel Plant using Kobe's ITmk3 technology with an initial USD 500 million outlay.

The source said that the joint venture, christened as SAIL-Kobe Pvt Ltd, will primarily cater to the need of the country's fast-growing automotive segment. It will also make stainless steel tube and other value added products used in

ITmk3, pronounced as "eye-tee mark three", owned by Kobe Steel, is used for smelting iron ore fines, using non coking coal, to produce premium grade iron in the form of nuggets. Kobe started using ITmk3 since 1996 with the objective to create a modern technology to produce high-quality products with significantly lower production costs and environmental concerned.

(Sourced from PTI)