SAIL earmarks Rs 10,264 cr to set up raw material mines

New Delhi: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will invest Rs 10,264 crore to develop mines catering to its increased raw material requirement upon completion of an ambitious expansion programme.The Maharatna company has already embarked on a Rs 70,000 crore capacity expansion plan to ramp up its domestic output to 23.46 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2012-13 from 14.35 MTPA at present.The company's iron ore requirement would increase from 23.2 million tonnes (MT) at present to a post-expansion level of 39 MT, which will be met from captive sources, the state-run firm's Chairman CS Verma said in Bhilai.[caption id="attachment_66259" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="The Maharatna company has already embarked on a Rs 70,000 crore capacity expansion plan to ramp up its domestic output. Reuters"][/caption]Verma said SAIL has lined up Rs 10,264 crore for development of the mines, as per an official statement issued here today. The state-run firm at present runs seven major iron ore mines, four of which are in Jharkhand and the remaining in Orissa.Verma had visited Bhilai to review the modernisation and expansion of the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), which is being undertaken at a cost of around Rs 17,200 crore.He expressed satisfaction over the progress made in installation of a new blast furnace — dubbed Blast Furnace 8 —at Bhilai at an investment of Rs 1,579 crore and with an annual hot metal production capacity of 2.8 million MT.He also reviewed the progress of work on the ultra-modern Universal Rail Mill being set up at the plant at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore.PTI