Is Tata Steel Planning to set up a Steel Park in Odisha?

According to the latest reports, Tata Steel has written to the Odisha government conveying its interest to set up a downstream steel park across 400 acres of land in Jajpur district of Odisha next to its greenfield project of Kalinganagar that is being ramped up from 3 Mtpa to 8 million tonne facility.

The representative of the Industries department in Odisha government has confirmed the news but has also informed that the official application from the company's end is still awaited.

Odisha government is pushing for investment in downstream industries especially since last year because the state despite having more than 70% of the country's minerals has a disproportionate and weak contribution in the country's manufacturing sector. The state government is working hard to help address this anomaly while trying to reduce its dependence on mineral-based earnings.

By 2030, the Odisha government hopes to see at least half the metal produced in the state further processed and consumed within Odisha, ideally around its existing steel and aluminium hubs.

Apart from Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) has committed an investment of INR 600 crore in a proposed 500 acres ancillary park near its Angul steel plant, Vedanta is developing a downstream park near its smelter at Jharsuguda and expects to host over a 100 units in the 250 acres area. Jindal Stainless (JSL), also located at Kalinganagar, has announced an investment ofINR 770 crore in 300-acre steel park. The state's Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has partnered with National aluminium company (Nalco) for a downstream park at Angul while the latter has also announced another downstream complex at Kamkhyanagar in Dhenkanal.

Tata Steel is currently building up a CRC mill of 2.2 MnT capacity in its Kalinganagr unit. With its acquisition of Bhushan Steel, the steelmaker also owns and operates the latter's auto-grade steel plant in Odisha.

In Q3 FY19 (Sep-Dec'18) Tata Steel's standalone production was marginally up to 3.3 MnT against 3.27 MnT in Q3FY18 with steady plant utilization through company's sales volume was lower at 2.97 MnT compared to 3.3 MnT in Q3FY18 due to seasonal headwinds, like softer automotive demand and inventory replenishment. Automotive and Special products recorded a growth of 21% in Apr-Dec'18 period against an industry growth of 12% during the corresponding period of last year.