Tata Steel eyes integrated production at Odisha plant to commence by September

Tata Steel is getting ready to commence "integrated, commercial production" of the first phase of the three-million-tonne steel plant in Odisha by September and is keen to keep the project cost below the projected Rs 25,000 crore.

"Integrated commissioning of all units for the first phase will take another six months. Project cost remains within the revised budget and even it could (be) lower," Tata Steel V-P Operations (Odisha) Rajiv Kumar said.

The company is gradually synchronising integrated steel plant components like the blast furnace, coke oven, sinter plant, captive power units and hot rolling, among others in stages, he said.

The timeline and cost were revised in 2011 in the wake of the delay in land acquisition, which has pushed back the project by four years.

Kumar did not share the cost of the original project, the MoU of which was signed with the Odisha government a decade ago.

With the Kalinganagar first phase, the capacity of the steel major is expected to go up to 13MT in India.

Kumar indicated that demand and the market scenario could play a big role in the construction of the second phase.