Modi may announce `36,000-cr expansion plan for Rourkela plant

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce a Rs 36,000-crore capacity expansion plan for SAIL’s Rourkela steel plant when he inaugurates the modernised unit of the state-owned firm on April 1. During his maiden visit to the Odisha-based plant, where a Rs 12,000 crore modernisation and expansion programme has recently been completed to raise capacity to 4.5 million tonnes per annum from 2 mtpa earlier, Modi may also unleash SAIL’s “Vision-2025”. Sources said SAIL has finalised its blueprint for future expansion which envisions raising the capacity of the company further to 50 mtpa by 2025 with an approximate investment of Rs 1.5 lakh crore in sync with the country’s plan to treble its installed capacity from 100 mtpa now. This is over and above the ongoing Rs 72,000 crore investment. 

This phase will be completed by the middle of the next year. “The PM is very hopeful of the potential that can be tapped in the iron and steel sector of the Eastern region. He may deliberate upon the need and his government’s commitment to unfurl that potential in his speech after inaugurating the expanded facility of RSP on April 1,” a source said.