SAIL, Posco plan another specialised mill

State-run steel major SAIL and Korean giant Posco Steel, which are jointly working to set up a steel plant in Jharkhand, are in talks for another specialised mill to meet the rising demand from electrical industry, steel secretary Atul Chaturvedi said in New Delhi on Monday.

"We (SAIL) are in talks with Posco to set up a downstream cold-rolled grain-oriented  steel mill," Chaturvedi told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in the Capital.

The CRGO, a key steel input for manufacturers of transformers and large power generators, is mostly imported now.

Posco, which is struggling to start work on its proposed Rs 54,000-crore (Rs 540-billion) project in Orissa for the past five years, is already working on to set up a steel plant in Jharkhand and a specialised mill in Maharashtra at an estimated investment of Rs 15,000 crore  (150 billion), with SAIL.

Asked if the proposed CRGO mill can help replace imports of the 3-4 lakh tonne such special steel products, Chaturvedi said, 'yes it could.'

However, the details about the size, investment and location of the mill could not be immediately be ascertained. SAIL, at present, produces some grades of CRGO steel at its Rourkela plant.

It is learnt that an industry delegation had last year urged the power ministry to take up the matter with the steel ministry so that electrical grade steel like CRGO and cold rolled non-grain oriented steel products could be manufactured domestically.

Posco and SAIL are already considering to jointly set up a 3-lakh tonne CRNO steel mill in Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 600-1,000 crore (Rs 6-10 billion).

The PSU also produces CRNO steel at its Rourkella Steel Plant.