ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel to invest Rs 1,000 cr in Andhra plant

ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel India (AM/NS), in a joint statement on Wednesday, stated that it will invest Rs 1,000 crore towards the brownfield expansion of its Vizag pellet plant in Andhra Pradesh. The expansion will increase the production capacity at Vizag from 8 MTPA to 11 MTPA, which is a hike of 35 per cent. 

AM/NS intends to complete the expansion project in 2023, subject to environmental clearances in the coming months. The plant is already connected to a slurry pipeline in Chattisgarh that ensures a clean and efficient method of transportation of raw materials required for pelletisation from source to plant, the companies stated. 

The investment announcement comes after ArcelorMittal, the parent company of AM/NS India, recently announced the development of a ‘round the clock’ renewable energy project with 975 MW of nominal capacity in Andhra Pradesh. The project with investments of over Rs 4,600 crore will combine solar and wind power and will be supported by Greenko’s hydro pumped storage project. This will result in over 20 per cent of the electricity requirement of AM/NS India’s Hazira plant. It will reduce carbon emissions by approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year. 

Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh said, “We welcome these significant investments by ArcelorMittal and AM/NS India to Andhra Pradesh, which reinforce the state’s leadership in attracting pioneering manufacturing and renewables projects that will not only support India’s steel making growth ambitions, but also assist the country’s efforts to advance industrial decarbonisation.”

Also read: Steel prices likely to fall by up to 15% in domestic market: Industry body EEPC