Three public sector enterprises under the Ministry of Steel, Government of India—Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) — signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Friday for jointly setting up a 4 million tonne per annum capacity integrated steel plant in Chhattisgarh.

The three PSEs had decided to enter into a strategic business relationship by forming a joint venture company for setting up of the plant four months ago.

It has been decided that the three companies will have equal equity participation in the proposed steel plant which will be set up on a suitable site selected on the basis of a pre-feasibility report to be prepared by a consultant.

SAIL, which has expertise in steel, has taken the lead for having the pre-feasibility and feasibility reports prepared for the proposed joint venture and have nominated MECON for the purpose. NMDC, with expertise in mining, will take the lead for obtaining land, mining leases, statutory clearances, etc., required for a greenfield project of this size. 

The MoU signed on Friday foresees leveraging of the synergies of the three PSEs to meet the growing demand for steel in India. SAIL and RINL have resources of skilled and technical manpower.

NMDC is  India’s largest iron ore producer, presently produces 27 million tonnes of ore from mechanised mines at Bailadila in Chhattisgarh and Donimalai in Karnataka.