NINL aims for expanded steel capacity

OREANDA-NEWS. Indian steel producer NINL is planning to expand its crude steel production capacity to 5mn t/yr from the current 1.1mn t/yr.

The first phase of capacity expansion to 2.2mn t/yr is targeted to be completed by end-March 2021. The expansion to 5mn t/yr will take place in a second phase, India's commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament.

NINL is majority owned by state-controlled trading firm MMTC. Its steel plant in east India's Orissa state produces pig iron, although it expects to add wire rods, billets and bars to its output in the future.

The government was considering a merger of NINL with India's state-controlled steel producer Sail, steel minister Narendra Tomar said in August last year. But MMTC was not currently considering any merger proposal for NINL, Sitharaman said.