Mumbai: Tata Steel has announced an expansion blueprint, including plans to add 4.8 million tonnes (mt) of capacity at Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) in Odisha’s Kalinganagar.
In a statement, the steelmaker said that the board has accorded in-principle approval to the project, which will allow the company to broaden its retail-oriented long products range and capitalise on the ongoing construction boom across the country.
Separately, Tata Steel also signed definitive agreements to acquire a 50.01% stake in Thriveni Pellets Private Limited (TPPL), which fully owns Brahmani River Pellets Limited (BRPL). The 4 MTPA pellet plant in Jajpur, Odisha, along with its 212-km slurry pipeline, will come under the transaction, pending regulatory clearances. Lloyd Metals holds the remaining 49.99% in TPPL.
The board has also sanctioned funds for detailed design, engineering, and regulatory approval processes for a new 2.5 MTPA thin slab casting and rolling facility at Tata Steel Meramandali in Odisha to further augment its flat products capacity, particularly in thinner gauges.
It also mentioned that a 0.7 MTPA hot-rolled pickling and galvanising line (HRPGL) will be set up at its existing cold rolling complex in Tarapur, Maharashtra, as part of its long-term growth strategy for its India operations, focusing on disciplined capital allocation and profitable expansion. A first facility of its kind in India, the new line will cater primarily to automotive customers, support import substitution, and reinforce the company’s leadership in high-end coated steel segments.
“As Maharashtra aims to grow to a USD 1 trillion economy in the near future and to cater to the growing demand of customers in Western and Southern India, Tata Steel has signed a MoU with Lloyd Metals & Energy Ltd to partner in the areas of iron ore mining, logistics including slurry pipeline, pellet and steel making,” it further informed.
The partnership envisages increasing iron ore output, building a greenfield 6 MTPA steel plant in two phases, and exploring collaboration in Lloyds’ ongoing integrated steel projects in the district, it said, adding that “all proposed initiatives are subject to further detailed evaluation, due diligence, and receipt of requisite internal and regulatory approvals”.
On the sustainability front, the board reviewed a decade-long pilot of the breakthrough HIsarna ironmaking technology at Tata Steel’s IJmuiden plant in the Netherlands and approved the start of engineering and regulatory work for a 1 MTPA demonstration plant at Jamshedpur.
HIsarna, for which Tata Steel holds global intellectual property rights, uses lower-grade iron ore, eliminates coking coal, and incorporates steel slag, making it a low-carbon, capital-efficient process for future steel production.
Tata Steel has an annual crude steel capacity of 35 million tonnes and is one of the world’s most geographically diversified steel producers. It recorded a consolidated turnover of approximately US$26 billion in FY 2024–25 and employs over 76,000 people across five continents. The company has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045, the release added.
