SAIL, RINL, BHEL plan venture for silicon steel project

Public sector giants SAIL, BHEL and RINL have decided on a joint venture for building an integrated manufacturing unit for electrical and silicon grade steel. Value-added special products used in heavy electrical equipment and in the infrastructure sector will also be made. This is a first such in the country.The three already formed a joint technical committee, which in turn has had several rounds of informal discussion with owners of the well-guarded technology.

Sources in SAIL, BHEL and RINL confirmed to Business Line that the three Government-owned entities recently decided to seek expression of interest (EOI) from the owners of the technology in the next two months.

The proposed production facility will be in collaboration with a proven technology owner. The initial production capacity of two grades of silicon steel – CRGO and CRNO – at the proposed facility has also been suggested at 1.5 lakh tonnes an annum (ltpa) and two to three ltpa, respectively. The shortlist of locations for the project includes Rourkela, Bokaro, Salem and Visakhapatnam.

The initial investment could be around Rs 3,000 crore, sources said.

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