Making More Steel and Profits

Making More Steel and Profits Hansavivek TATA IRON AND STEEL COMPANY (TISCO) has expressed to the government its willingness to expand capacity by about a million tonnes in flat products and is awaiting government's reaction. Meanwhile, the company has undertaken a 5-year modernisation-cum-replacement programme of Rs 1,127 crore and approached the Steel Development Fund (SDF) for loans of Rs 492 crore to meet a part of the rupee cost of the programme. The SDF Committee has sanctioned loans of Rs 273 crore and applications for the balance amount are being appraised by the economic research unit of the Joint Plant Committee on behalf of the SDF. A foreign collaboration agreement has been finalised with LURGI of West Germany for obtaining technical knowhow and equipment for setting up the second sinter plant. The rupee cost of this project is proposed to be financed from the SDF and foreign exchange component of DM 37 million will be financed out of two foreign exchange loans sanctioned by IFC, Washing- The Week's Companies ton (DM 25 million) and SBI (DM 12 million). A new company has been registered under the name 'Tata Korf Engineering Services' which will be applying to the government for the various approvals required in cases of technology transfer. Korf of Germany has a novel method of making steel. The company has received permission from the Government of MP for mining limestone and producing clinker. It has submitted a proposal to the Central government for setting up a plant of 1.4 million tonnes per annum of slag-based cement at Jamshedpur and a 3-lakh tonnes per annum cement unit in MP.