Gujarat NRE Coke's Kutch plant begins production
(The Economic Times, Ahmedabad, December 29, 2005)

GUJARAT NRE Coke today said that its greenfield steel plant in Kutch has commenced production from today. The 300,000 capacity steel plant set up by the low-ash coke manufacturer at an estimated cost of about Rs 50 crore will manufacture hot metal, billets, steel rebars as well as hot rolled products.

“The initial production of the plant will be low at about 10,000 tonnes per month for first few month,” Mr AK Jagatramka, managing director, Gujarat NRE Coke said. The company is now looking at setting up a 20-mw-duel fuel thermal power plant. “Additional investment in the new unit will that be of the thermal power plant and detailed reports are being prepared,” Mr Jagatramka said without giving further details. The power plant will use coal and waste heat generated during coke making as fuel.

The raw material (coking coal) for the Kutch plant will be sourced from the Australian mine. “The first batch of 40,000 tonnes of coking coal from the Australian coal mine is on its way and should reach Kandla port in the the first week of January,” Mr Jagatramka said. The second Australian coal mine will take few more months before commercial production starts.

The new steel making facility at Kutch envisages manufacturing steel rebars from MS Scrap, sponge iron, ferro alloys and CI Scrap.

The company had earlier announced investments worth over Rs 100 crore for setting up wind power projects. It already has a wind farm with 25-megawatt capacity in Kutch.