09-07-2005, 03:23 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Tatas to set up $9.1b steel and power plant in Jharkhand </b>
Reuters / Kolkata
The Tatas, India's second largest business group, plans to invest 400 billion rupees ($9.1 billion) to set up a steel mill and a power plant in the eastern state of Jharkhand, the chief minister said. The group plans to set up a 12 million tonne steel mill, a 2,500 megawatt power project and a township in the mineral rich state, Arjun Munda told reporters late on Monday.
"The memorandum of understanding will be signed this week," Munda said. He did not give details on the time frame. The board of Tata Steel Ltd., India's largest private sector steel maker, has already cleared a proposal to invest up to $8 billion to set up an integrated steel plant in Jharkhand.
<b>Shares of the company were trading unchanged at 405 rupees in a flat market. Munda's announcement comes after a source told Reuters last month that Mittal Steel Co., the world's largest steel maker, had put in a proposal to build a 12 million tonne steel plant at the cost of $11.4 billion in the newly formed state.</b>
Companies are looking to set up plants in India, drawn by robust demand in Asia's third largest economy forecast to expand about 7 percent this year after averaging 7.7 percent growth in the past two years. India offers steel making and mining firms affordable labour costs and the world's third largest deposits of coal and iron ore.
In June, POSCO, the world's fifth largest steel maker, signed a deal to set up a $12 billion steel project. It was granted 30-year mining rights by eastern Orissa state to supply 600 million tonnes of iron ore to the new plant.Â
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Reuters / Kolkata
The Tatas, India's second largest business group, plans to invest 400 billion rupees ($9.1 billion) to set up a steel mill and a power plant in the eastern state of Jharkhand, the chief minister said. The group plans to set up a 12 million tonne steel mill, a 2,500 megawatt power project and a township in the mineral rich state, Arjun Munda told reporters late on Monday.
"The memorandum of understanding will be signed this week," Munda said. He did not give details on the time frame. The board of Tata Steel Ltd., India's largest private sector steel maker, has already cleared a proposal to invest up to $8 billion to set up an integrated steel plant in Jharkhand.
<b>Shares of the company were trading unchanged at 405 rupees in a flat market. Munda's announcement comes after a source told Reuters last month that Mittal Steel Co., the world's largest steel maker, had put in a proposal to build a 12 million tonne steel plant at the cost of $11.4 billion in the newly formed state.</b>
Companies are looking to set up plants in India, drawn by robust demand in Asia's third largest economy forecast to expand about 7 percent this year after averaging 7.7 percent growth in the past two years. India offers steel making and mining firms affordable labour costs and the world's third largest deposits of coal and iron ore.
In June, POSCO, the world's fifth largest steel maker, signed a deal to set up a $12 billion steel project. It was granted 30-year mining rights by eastern Orissa state to supply 600 million tonnes of iron ore to the new plant.Â
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