South Korean steel major Posco plans to invest $1.5 billion to expand capacity at its steel reprocessing facility in Maharashtra.
It will reprocess Austenitic and Cold Rolled stainless steel at the facility at Vile-Bhagad and Palasgaon industrial area in Raigad district.
The State Government, which has granted mega project status to the facility, will sign an agreement with Posco by this month-end. The Government will provide tax concessions to the company, said a senior Maharashtra Government.
In 2010, Posco invested $1 billion at Vile-Bhagad in a reprocessing plant to produce zinc-galvanised steel sheets for automobiles and electronic goods. It will also produce zinc galvanised-alloy steel products for local and overseas markets. The plant will go on-stream by early June.
Posco's $2.5 billion FDI investment in the State is one of the biggest. Although the company is facing hurdles in Odisha, its investments in Maharashtra have been without any hitch, the official said.
The facility is about 140 km from Mumbai and about 97 km from Dighi port on the west coast. Posco has constructed a warehouse at the port. The warehouse has a capacity to handle 360,000 tonnes of steel products a year.
The official added that being close to Dighi port is of advantage to the company as the port and the surrounding area have been designated as a hub under the multi-billion dollar Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project.
Soon, Posco would be able to ship its products using the dedicated railway freight corridor, the official said.