Tata Steel, Nippon Steel JV to build Rs 2,400-cr steel plant

JAMSHEDPUR (Commodity Online) : Tata Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel, the world's seventh-largest and second-largest steel makers respectively, plan to set up a joint venture to build a Rs2,400 crore automotive cold-rolled steel sheet plant in Jamshedpur aimed at the booming Indian auto industry.

The 50:50 JV that is likely to be inked by the end of this month, will produce auto grade steel with production likely to commence by early 2013.

Speaking to the media, H M Nerurkar, Tata Steel's managing director said that the plant will be located inside the Jamshedpur Works, employ around 200 people and have an initial capacity of 600,000 tonnes a year of cold rolled sheet steel.

Tata Steel, India's largest steel maker, has been in talks since January 2010 with Tokyo-based Nippon to form a JV for the production and sale of high-grade automotive cold-rolled flat products.

The technology for production of high-grade cold-rolled steel sheets for automotive application, including outer panels and high-tensile steel will be Nippon's, which will be licenced to the JV.

"The demand for small cars in India is rapidly growing and we aim to tap this growing market," said Nerurkar.