RINL will invest Rs 3,046 cr to boost capacity

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam plans to invest Rs. 3,046 crore (Rs. 30. 46 billion) next fiscal to part finance capacity expansion to 6.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and iron ore, coking coal mines acquisitions.

The proposed outlay is 5.21 per cent higher than Rs. 2,895 crore (Rs. 28.95 billion) it had estimated to spend on enhancing capacity in the current fiscal, Budget papers for 2011-12 showed. "Outlay has been made for expansion of RINL's production capacity to 6.5 million tonnes, coke oven battery No 4 (Phase-I and II), air separation plant, acquisition of iron ore mines and coking coal mines," said the Budget papers.

The entire outlay would be funded through internal and extra budgetary resources, it added.

RINL currently has around 4 mtpa capacity and it has already embarked on capacity in its existing location at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh.

"The capacity addition will be completed by the end of the next fiscal," a company official said.

RINL is a part of the International Coal Ventures, a consortium of five state-run firms, is reviewing several proposals for acquiring coal properties in Australia with a view to examine their suitability and viability. Due diligence is in the progress.

ICVL has also identified several nations like Indonesia, Mozambique, US and Colombia for buying out coal properties, State Minister for Coal Pratik Prakash Bapu Patil said recently in a reply to the Lok Sabha.

RINL is the first shore-based integrated steel plant set up in the country, away from major raw material sources with technical and financial cooperation from the erstwhile USSR.

Being shore-based, it has the advantage of easier import of input materials and export of finished products.