State-owned Steel Authority
of India(SAIL) is likely to finalize within a month, a joint venture with
Japan's Kobe Steel for a 0.5 million tonnes (MT) mill in West Bengal
to manufacture special grade steel. “SAIL is finalising a joint venture
with Kobe Steel and it's likely to be signed in a month's span.
The total investment in the project will be $400 million (about Rs 2,000
crore),” steel minister Beni Prasad Verma said. The JV will help SAIL
acquire the Japanese company's patented technology, used for value added
applications. The new unit will put into use Kobe Steel's iron-making
technology to make nuggets.
Verma said that after the initial 0.5 MT project, to be implemented at Alloy
Steels Plant at Durgapur, its capacity will be doubled to 1 MT by adding
another 0.5 MT module. As far as technology goes, this will be a first-of-its-
kind venture for SAIL. Verma said both the companies are likely to have equal
stake in the JV. Meanwhile, SAIL is also in advance talks to finalise a joint
venture with South Korea's POSCO.
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