AMNSIL steel plant in A.P. lines up a portfolio of six products

The greenfield Integrated Steel Plant (ISP) being set up by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited (AMNSIL) in Anakapalli district has lined up a portfolio of six finished saleable products, 70% of which are hot rolled coils that account for 5.8 MTPA out of 8.2 MTPA capacity planned in Phase-I.

AMNSIL’s proposal is to establish a 17.8 MTPA ISP in two phases, the first one of which with an estimated capital cost of ₹67,345 crore is in its initial stages, according to official sources.

As per the ISP’s executive summary prepared by a Secunderabad-based environmental consulting firm, the 2,200-acre steel plant site is spread across five villages namely D.L. Puram, Butchirajupeta, Vempadu, Chandanada and Rajayyapeta in Nakkapalli Mandal. 

This industrial area falls in the East Coast Economic Corridor that stretches from Tuticorin to Kolkata.  The ISP requires approximately 135 MLD of water for main plant applications and domestic needs and the plan is to draw a bulk of it from the Polavaram Left Main Canal by laying an underground pipeline and source the balance from iron slurry water received at the site and treated wastewater within the facility.

As far as power is concerned, the total requirement is pegged at 867 MW, of which approximately 227 MW will be met through captive generation and the remaining 640 MW sourced from the grid. The company is getting the 244 km-long iron ore slurry pipeline, that originates at the NMDC’s Bailadila mines in Chhattisgarh and currently catering to its pellet plant, diverted near Peddapeta village, and a cadastral survey done for right of way for the balance 54 km up to the main plant site at Rajayyapeta.

Besides, AMNSIL has formulated an environmental management plan of ₹3,540 crore with annual recurring cost of ₹355 crore.  The ISP will have a blast furnace and a basic oxygen furnace (BoF) which are said to be proved as more productive and compatible with large volume integrated steel-making than electric arc furnace (EAF) or con-arc furnace (a combination of BoF and EAF) technologies. 

AMNSIL had initially considered setting up the ISP at three locations including Nakkapalli, Mulapeta in Srikakulam and  Vodarevu in Bapatla district being the other two but chose the first due to its  proximity to Visakhapatnam industrial hub, superior logistical connectivity and on the basis of other parameters.