South Korean steel giant POSCO is renewing its effort to enter India’s growing steel market. It has collaborated with RINL in Visakhapatnam. Earlier, the company had proposed to set up a 12 MTPA plant at Jagatsinghpur in Odisha at an estimated cost of Rs 52,000 crore. It had failed earlier due to a struggle against land acquisition.
POSCO officials had a meeting with the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) management last week with regard to the JV plans.The South Korean steel major is looking to set up a joint venture with RINL in Visakhapatnam for manufacturing of value-added special grade of steel.
According to sources, POSCO officials have visited the RINL facility three times since January 2019.
Earlier, the company was looking to set up a plant in Odisha at an estimated cost of Rs 52,000 crore. An MoU was also signed between Posco and the Odisha government in this regard in 2005 but the plant could never be set up due to various reasons from delay in environmental clearances to protests by the locals. The pact ultimately expired in 2010 and was not renewed again.
In July this year, senior POSCO officials also met Steel Secretary Binoy Kumar and submitted an investment proposal.The 7.3 million tonnes RINL plant in Visakhapatnam is a shore-based integrated steel plant. It has a land of over approximately 22,000 acre of its own and enjoys access to Gangavaram Port, where raw materials such as coking coal etc arrives.
