ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India has confirmed a proposed investment of Rs 1,000 crore towards brownfield expansion of its Vizag pellet plant in Andhra Pradesh.
This investment follows a recent announcement by ArcelorMittal, a parent company of AM/NS India, to develop a ‘round the clock’ renewable energy project with 975 MW of nominal capacity, also in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The project, involving investment of more than Rs 4,600 crore will combine solar and wind power and be supported by Greenko’s hydro pumped storage project, which helps to overcome the intermittent nature of wind and solar power generation. Round The Clock power of 250MW will result in over 20 percent of the electricity requirement at AM/NS India’s Hazira plant coming from renewable sources, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year, it said in a statement.
The planned expansion will increase pellet production capacity at Vizag by 35 percent, from 8 MTPA to 11 MTPA. AM/NS India’s Vizag pellet plant is already connected to a slurry pipeline in Chhattisgarh, which ensures a clean and efficient method of transportation of raw materials required for pelletization from source to plant. AM/NS India intends to complete the expansion project in 2023, subject to receiving Environmental Clearance in the coming months.
Commenting after a meeting with Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal and Chairman of AM/ NS India, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh said, “We welcome these significant investments by ArcelorMittal and AM/NS India to Andhra Pradesh, which reinforce the state’s leadership in attracting pioneering manufacturing and renewables projects that will not only support India’s steel making growth ambitions, but also assist the country’s efforts to advance industrial decarbonisation.”
