Contract woes for Bhilai Steel Plant

A senior SAIL executive said Tyazhpromexport had been trying to apply pressure to get the contract awarded on a negotiated basis.

 Capacity hurdle: Steel Authority of India’s rail mill at the Bhilai steel plant in Chhattisgarh. The expansion plan for the plant has been reviewed and shelved, a spokesman for the company said. Maitreyee Handique / Mint .

report of Mr. Utpal Bhaskar at-

SAIL to invest Rs 3,500 cr to set up steel mill

State-run SAIL on Saturday said it will invest Rs 3,500 crore to set up 4-million tonnes per annum steel mill at its Bhilai Steel Plant. 

Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh today laid the foundation of the mill in Bhilai, SAIL said in a statement. 

The minister also inaugurated a new 0.8 million tonne mill set up at a cost of Rs 520 crore at the facility. 

Bhilai Steel Plant is currently enhancing its annual steel production capacity to 7.5 MTPA from the present 3-MTPA at an investment of Rs 12,000 crore by 2011-12. 

The country's largest steel producer SAIL is enhancing its production capacity to 26 million tonnes from present 14 million tonnes at an estimated investment of Rs 70,000 crore.