Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday in New Delhi to set up a joint venture for manufacturing transmission-line towers and tower parts, according to a press release issued by RINL here. The capacity of the plant, to be set up in Visakhapatnam, will be 2 lakh tonnes a year initially and the cost Rs 300-350 crore.
Mr A.P. Choudhary (Chairman and Managing Director, RINL) and Mr R.N. Nayak (CMD, Power Grid) signed the memorandum in the presence of Dr Dalip Singh (Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Steel) and Mr Rakesh Jain (Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Power), Ms Rita Acharya (Joint Secretary, Transmission, Union Ministry of Power) and Mr Arun Kumar (Director, Transmission, Union Ministry of Power). Mr Umesh Chandra (Director, Operations, RINL), Mr P. Madhusudan (Director, Finance, RINL) and Mr T.K. Chand, (Director, Commercial, RINL) were also present.
Timely availability of material to Power Grid will be the main advantage of the tie-up, said the release. The establishment of the unit at Visakhapatnam will open up South-East Asian markets.
Dr Dalip Singh said the venture would improve bottom lines of both companies and suggested they tie up to make cold-rolled grain-oriented steel, too.