AP seeks POSCO nod on steel plant at K'patnam

Visakhapatnam: CLOSE on the heels of confirmation on POSCO signing an MoU with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) for exploring setting up of a five million tonne special grade steel plant at an estimated cost of Rs 30,000 crore in Visakhapatnam, the Andhra Pradesh Government has sought confirmation from the South Korean steel manufacturer on its plan to establish an integrated steel plant at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district.

The steel plant proposed in Visakhapatnam on the surplus lands of RINL on the backyard of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was confirmed by Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan a few days ago after the decision of Union Cabinet on Economic Affairs on January 27 for selling RINL, the corporate entity of VSP with approval for 100 per cent management control by way of privatisation.

The RINL unions as well as the Opposition parties and a section of BJP leaders have been opposing privatisation of RINL. The unions are also opposed to the joint venture proposal from 2018 when high-level team from POSCO visited VSP.

AP Special Chief Secretary Karikal Valaven in a letter sent to POSCO India CMD Sung Lae Chun thanked the reputed steel company for the interest shown to set up a greenfield steel plant at Krishnapatnam.

POSCO-India's team visited Krishnapatnam on December 18, 2020 and the CMD came on a personal visit to the site on February 10.

Krishnapatnam Port is one of the largest automated ports in South Asia and with a deep draft capable of handling capesize and panamax vessels and located close to Chennai and Bengaluru.

"I believe that your visit to Krishnapatnam and the interaction with Krishnapatnam Port authorities was useful.At this juncture, I wish to remind you that even during your meeting with the Government of AP officials, we expressed our keen interest to have POSCO setup its integrated steel plant at Krishnapatnam and we are committed to providing full support to the company," Valaven stated in the letter.