By Nageshwar Patnaik in Angul, June 16, 2018: India will require a whopping investment of Rs 10 lakh crore to meet 300 million ton target by 2030, union steel minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Saturday said.

Inaugurating 3 million ton per annum (MTPA) basic oxygen furnace (BOF), 2 mtpa DRI plant and a state-of-art blast furnace — billed as India’s largest Jindal Steel and Power Limited’s (JSPL) 6 integrated steel plant here, Singh said, “We have set a target of raising steel production in the country to 300 mtpa by 2030 and an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore would have to be made to achieve the goal.”

Other facilities in the plant included an innovative Rs 10,000 crore coal gasification unit for making steel based on indigenous coal, which was inaugurated by union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Singh once again reiterated that Odisha is emerging as a fast emerging steel hub.

“The state will contribute one third of the 300 MT of steel proposed to be produced in the country in 12 years”, he remarked adding that an investment of Rs 4 lakh crore would be made in Odisha to raise the steel production in the state.

The steel minister hailed the coal gasification process created by JSPL for making steel for the first time in the world will help Odisha becoming a steel hub in the days to come. He exuded confidence that JSPL’s coal gasification process would emerge as a boon for Indian steel industry which would substantially reduce import of coking coal.

Stating that around 80 per cent of coking coal is imported by India, Singh said: “We remain dependent on imports (for coking coal) but Naveen (Jindal) has come out with a plan which can make us reduce this dependence.”

The new technology of making steel by coal gasification helps in producing the metal using domestic coal, he added.

Making it clear that the steel sector has been successfully pulled out of morass by the Narendra Modi government, the steel minister said the industry has witnessed a spur following introduction of MIP and imposition of anti-dumping duty.

Steel exports have gone up by 132 per cent during the last four years, while imports had declined by around 40 per cent, he informed and disclosed that in the coming years 28 per cent of world’s vehicles would be made using Indian steel.

India has become the second largest steel producer in the world surpassing Japan and other countries, Singh said adding that five lakh jobs have been created in the steel sector during last four years.
The government would invite global companies to manufacture the steel machineries in India with an investment of around Rs 4 lakh crore, he said.

Pradhan said the coal gasification plant at JSPL’s Angul plant shows that with the use of new technologies, diverse forms of energy can be produced which would not only be cost saving but also help in employment generation.

JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal said the 4554 cubic metre Blast Furnace (BF) is India’s largest and the 3 MTPA Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) the most modern BOF in the country.

He also said the 2 MTPA DRI Plant at Angul is world’s largest syngas-based plant and for the first time a company in India is using coal gasification method for steel making.

“This is for the first time that any company in India is using coal gasification method to make steel,” Jindal said adding that the coal gasification plant has been set up with the technology from Germany.
The minister added that the new technology of making steel by coal gasification helps in producing the metal using domestic coal.

The company’s 6 MTPA plant at Angul is the largest steel manufacturing plant in Odisha, spread across 3,500 acres.

It has 1.5 MTPA rebar mill, 1.2 MTPA plate mill, 2.3 MTPA billet caster, 1.7 MTPA slab caster and 2.75 MTPA new electric oxygen furnace. It also has 810 MW capacity power plant for captive use.
OP Jindal Group Chairperson Emeritus Mrs Savitri Jindal was also present on the occasion.