SAIL investing Rs1,600 crore to build 8 processing units
16 Nov 2007
Mumbai: The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) would invest about Rs1,600 crore to build processing units in seven states to meet the growing demand for steel products in the country.
"Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) will build eight processing units in seven states at the cost of Rs200 crore each," steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan told the Economic Editors'' Conference.
The units would be set up in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
By 2020, the steel sector would witness investments of Rs870,640 crore and the country will be the world''s second largest producer of steel before 2015-16, he said.
"During 2006, India emerged as the fifth largest crude steel producing country in the world and is set to become the second largest global steel producer before 2015-16," Paswan said.
India''s steel production will be nearly 124 million tonnes by 2012, Paswan said, adding, the country is likely to achieve an annual capacity of around 275 million tonnes by 2019-20.
"Going by the estimate of Rs4,000 crore investment per million tonne of additional capacity, the steel sector is likely to witness an investment of Rs 276,880 crore by 2012 and Rs870,640 crore by 2020," he said.