By IANS,
Bangalore : ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, will set up an integrated steel plant at Kudithini in the iron ore mining Bellary district of north Karnataka at an estimated cost of Rs.300 billion (Rs.30,000 crore/$6.5 billion), an official said Friday.
“The Indian subsidiary of ArcelorMittal has decided to set up the six-million tonnes per annum (TPA) steel plant at Kudithini in Bellary district instead of a site near Mulwad village in Bijapur district,” state’s Principal Secretary Industry V.P. Baligar told reporters.
A team of the company’s officials inspected the new site last week and agreed to set up the plant, as the state water resources department has assured about 400 million litres of water per annum from the nearby Tungabhadra river.
“The government is allotting 4,900 acres of land to the company on lease for locating the steel plant and a township,” Baligar said on the margins of a conclave on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The plant will be located adjacent to the 1000mw thermal power station of the state-run Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) at Kudithini, around 25km from Bellary and 330km from Bangalore.
The state-run Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), which holds the land bank in the steel corridor, will allot the land to the steel major on a long-term lease.
The company has also applied for 300 hectares of captive mining area for sourcing iron ore in the district where the ferric (iron) content is high (around 63 percent). The application will be considered once the steel plant project takes off,” Baligar noted.
To ensure sufficient water supply for the steel plant round the year, especially during the lean season (summer), the government has offered to lay down pipes from the Almatti dam across the Krishna river in Bagalkot district.
“Once commissioned, the steel plant is expected to create a vast industrial base for ancillary units and generate $6 billion (Rs.276 billion/Rs.27,600 crore) indirect business per annum and thousands of direct/indirect jobs,” Baligar added.