New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd, State-run steel manufacturer has decided to invest around Rs 1,000 crore on establishing at least three greenfield pellet plants amounting 6 million tons to raise its production capacitance to over 24 million tons by the end of the 11th Plan.

Sushil Kumar Roongta, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Chairman, said, “We are planning to invest between Rs 800-1,000 crore within the next five years to set up three to four pellet plants totalling 6 MT to meet our growing production needs.”.

Mr. Roongta said that the aimed plants would be established near Dalli-Rajhara mines in Chhattisgarh, Taldih mines in Orissa and near its mines in Jharkhand.

“These plants would be of 2 MT or 3 MT capacity each,” Roongta said, commenting that the pellets supplied by these plants would be utilized in SAIL’s furnaces in order to improve steel production.

“Besides, we are aiming to ensure 100 per cent benefaction of low-grade iron ore and make them usable in our plants. SAIL will extensively use iron ore fines and increase benefaction of its existing mines,” he sounded out.

He also said that constituting more such projects would hinge on increase in capacity of steel production.

Roongta said that the country’s steel segment was rising at 10-12 per cent annually and to preserve the pace, it would have to discover ways to make steel at competitive cost.