Bhubaneswar/Tokyo: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is on a week-ling business tour of Japan, visited a plant of Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) on Thursday.
Naveen, who made a factory visit to the Kimitsu Steel Works and the Research & Development centre of Nippon Steel Corp along with the state delegation, expressed optimism about the Japanese company’s proposed projects in Odisha.
The visit to NSC’s Kimitsu Steel Works provided an opportunity for the delegation to learn about the latest technologies and processes used by the Japanese company in the production of steel.
The plant was established on land reclaimed from sea and used environmentally sustainable green technologies. The depth of sea used to be more than 10m. The plant has a large lay out campus and with green tree belts.
The Plant produces diversified specialised steel products used for various downstream industries like the automobiles, official sources said.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister expressed his admiration for the state-of-the-art facility and the commitment of NSC towards excellence in steel production.
He discussed regarding the use of similar green technologies for the plants coming up in Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts. The proposed plant will also focus on specialised steel products which will enable downstream industries in Odisha.
Naveen highlighted the immense potential for collaboration between NSC and Odisha, given the state’s rich mineral resources and potential in the steel sector. He also assured the NSC officials about the committed support of the government of Odisha for Arcelor Mittal-Nippon Steel (AM/NS) India’s upcoming integrated steel plants in Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur in Odisha.
The projects will use huge volumes of iron ore fines which will help in value addition of the mineral within Odisha in comparison to current trend of exporting the iron ore fines.
The Chief Minister, in an Instagram post, said he was happy to witness the environment friendly steps taken by the company during his visit to the plant. “I am highly hopeful about the steel plants proposed to be set up in Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur with their cooperation,” the Chief Minister said.
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The Chief Minister expressed his appreciation for the warm hospitality extended by NSC towards the delegation and conveyed his hope that the visit would contribute to strengthening the relationship between NSC and Odisha.
Naveen’s visit to the plant comes two days after his meeting with Nippon Steel president Eiji Hashimoto at Tokyo on Tuesday during which they discussed avenues of collaboration between the Japanese steel giant and the Odisha government.
The Japanese steel major plans to set up the largest and modern steel plant with a production capacity of 30 million tonne per annum (MTPA) in Odisha. Now, globally 20 MTPA steel plant is the largest.
Notably, AMNS India, a joint venture of Arcellor Mittal and Nippon Steel, has signed two MoUs with Odisha to establish two steel mills and early commissioning of these projects can generate direct jobs for 28,000 people.
Naveen, who is on a week-long visit to Japan, addressed Business Meet Tokyo 2023 on Wednesday which saw Rs 26,000 crore investment intents across green hydrogen and green ammonia, green energy equipment manufacturing, IT/ITeS, logistics, metal ancillary, steel, and metal downstream sectors, according to an official release.
An MoU for collaboration in skill development sector was also signed between Nihon-Utkal (NITKAL) and IIIT, Bhubaneswar.
A business delegation from Odisha, representing steel, aluminium, textiles, food and sea-food processing, green hydrogen and green ammonia sectors, is also accompanying Naveen.
This is the Chief Minister’s third official overseas trip in his 23-year rule and is being seen as an attempt to give a push to investment in the state ahead of the 2024 twin polls.
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