Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (Visakhapatnam Steel Plant) and the Railways signed an agreement in New Delhi on Thursday for setting up a forged wheel plant near Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, according to a press release issued here.
The forged wheel plant to be set up at Lalgunj at an investment of Rs 1,100 crore will produce one lakh wheels a year in the first phase.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Minister of Steel Beni Prasad Verma and Minister of Railways Mallikarjun Kharge. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, tMinister of State for Railways, was also present on the occasion.
Beni Prasad Varma said: “These agreements will start a new chapter of co-operation between the Indian steel industry and the Railways.”
He added that RINL and the Railways would be mutually benefited.
Order placement
Mallikarjun Kharge advised the RINL to complete the project on time to meet the requirement of wheels.
RINL CMD A.P Choudhary said the process of order placement was in at an advance stage.
The global technology/equipment suppliers from Germany, Russia, China along with reputed Indian agencies were participating in the bidding process.
Double capacity
He said the capacity of the plant would be doubled in the second phase to over two lakh wheels a year.
The factory would become operational in 36 months from order placement date and it would provide employment to around 600 people.
G. Mohan Kumar, Secretary (Steel), and Arunendra Kumar, Chairman of the Railway Board, also spoke on the significance of the import substitution project.
sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in