Tata Steel plans 2nd phase expansion of Kalinganagar plant

Bhubaneswar: Tata Steel is planning to initiate second phase expansion at Kalinganagar plant in Odisha to double its capacity to 6 mtpa, but has no proposal to set up another green-field steel plant in immediate future.

"Sometime in next six months a proposal will be sent  to our board for its approval to start the second phase work at Kalinganagar, while the focus now is to achieve full 3 mtpa capacity in first phase fast," Tata Steel MD (India and South East Asia) T V Narendran said.

He also said that Kalinganagar plant, set up at an investment of over Rs 25,000 crore, is likely to reach break even by the end of this fiscal.

After achieving the first phase rated capacity of 3 mtpa, second phase expansion can be taken up, Narendran said.

However, the steel maker has no plan to set up a third green-field steel plant in the country in near future, and would rather concentrate on raising capacities of its existing plants at Jamshedpur and Kalinganagar, the Tata Steel MD told reporters here.

Noting that Jamshedpur plant's present capacity stands at 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), he said its capacity would go up to 11 mtpa as an approval has been obtained to add one more million tonne.

Thus, both Jamshedpur and Kalinganagar would churn out up to 17 mtpa post-expansion. Tata Steel, which has 2,000 acres of land in Kalinganagar, is already in the process of getting another 1,000 acres, Narendran said, adding that with 3,000 acres of land, the newly set up steel plant would even be in a position to raise capacity up to 15-16 mtpa in a phased manner.

Despite challenges before the steel sector both at home and abroad, expansion ventures would continue to raise steel making capacity in India as demand in the country is projected to rise by 5 to 6 per cent, he said.