Kolkata, Dec 24: State-owned Vizag Steel Plant would shortly sign an MoU for supply of natural gas required by the plant for increasing its hot metal production to a level of five million tonne by 2005 from the present 4.2 m.t. The company had held preliminary talks with a company in Gujarat which had expressed keenness to supply the gas to the plant from the K G basin, VSP sources said.
The MoU was likely to be signed shortly, the sources said adding the pipeline for carrying the gas would be laid by the company which would supply it.
VSP, as part of its first phase expansion plan which would take the plant's hot metal production capacity to five m.t., would require one billion cubic metre of gas annually.
Its corporate plan for the three-phase expansion which would increase its capacity to 10 m.t. by 2020, would be submitted to the company's board next month for approval.
Meanwhile, the government had cleared the fourth coke oven battery for VSP which would cost Rs 320 crore. The construction of the battery would be completed within 30 months, the sources said.
Bureau Report