Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Nagpur-based Manganese Ore India (MOIL) have joined hands for setting up a 1 lakh tonne ferro alloys plant in Bhilai at an estimated investment of Rs 400 crore. To proceed on the proposed project, Under the Ministry of Steel, the two public sector undertakings have formed a joint venture company christened 'SAIL and MOIL Ferro Alloys Private Limited' with 50% equity partnership each. Under the deal, SAIL would utilize the Ferro alloys produced from the joint venture as raw material to produce steel. The JV Company would require about 3-lakh tons of manganese ore to produce 1-lakh tonne of Ferro alloys per annum. The JV firm was registered on July 31 and has a total capital outlay of Rs 380 crore. The plant is likely to start production by 2009-end or early 2010. PK Agarwal, market analyst of Bonanza Portfolio has suggested investors to hold the SAIL's stock. He said in an interview that the counter looks reasonably good and the future prospective looks impressive in the long run. SAIL closed today at Rs 151 on BSE, up 5% compared to its previous close of Rs 114. It touched an intraday high and low of Rs 153 and 142 respectively.