The government of the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has committed to allot Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) a captive iron ore mine in return for a commitment from the steel producer that it will invest in an iron ore pelletization plant located within the state, a government official said on Wednesday, August 24.
The trade unions operating in RINL are backing the company management’s efforts to secure a captive iron ore mine since the steel producer’s future expansion plans depend on raw material security as it is currently dependant on commercial purchases of iron ore to feed its plant in the southern Indian port town of Vishkhapatnam.
RINL is currently in the process of ramping up the steelmaking capacity of its plant to 6.3 million mt per year from 3 million mt per year at an investment of $1.86 billion.
The steel producer is also scouting for captive iron ore mines in the eastern Indian state of Odisha and the central state of Rajasthan, a company official said.