Hyderabad: The Union ministry of steel on Friday accorded in-principal approval for the Bayyaram Steel Plant in Khammam district. However, it suggested that the plant be set up in PPP mode.
The approval was given based on the recommendation of Steel Authority of India Ltd. Under the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, the Centre had promised that a steel plant would be established by SAIL in TS by exploiting the iron ore mines at Bayyaram.
However, SAIL, which is suffering huge losses, is exploring various options like forging a tie-up with a private player to set up the plant, since it can fund the entire project on its own besides complaining about poor quality of iron ore available in Bayyaram.
Industries minister K.T.Rama Rao had held discussions with the Union ministers concerned on the fate of the steel plant few months ago.
Later, the Union government constituted a committee to explore the possibility of setting up a steel factory in Bayyaram in Telangana and another steel factory in Kadapa of AP. The TS government wanted the Centre to take a representative in the committee from TS too, for which the Centre accepted.
The TS government urged the Centre to link up the steel plant with iron ore mines in Bailadila in Chhattisgarh so that the iron ore can be transported to TS for the steel plant.
