September 08, 2008

RINL to build a steel SEZ in Vizag

The Telegraph reported that Visakhapatnam based Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited is planning to build a steel special economic zone near its plant and has approached the Andhra Pradesh government with a proposal for the SEZ.

Mr CG Patil commercial director of RINL said that the state government had asked for some clarifications about its proposal. He added that “We are working out the details.”

Mr Patil said that RINL had 25,000 acres, which it got from the state government when the plant was being set up in the late seventies. Apart from the plant, the plot also has a township for the employees and a green belt. Land acquisition is the biggest stumbling block towards building SEZs in the country. RINL, therefore, is in a comparatively better position to build an SEZ.

RINL has a crude steel capacity of 3.6 million tonnes, which is being expanded to 6.3 million tonnes at an estimated investment of INR 8,700 crore. It hopes to take the capacity to 8.5 million tonnes by a de bottlenecking exercise. New steel plants, such as JSW Steel’s in Bengal, are coming up on much smaller plots. JSW Steel will set up a 10 million tonnes facility, an integrated township and a captive power plant on 4,800 acres.