PLI scheme qualifiers, steel ministry to ink pacts to materialise investment proposals

Qualifiers of PLI scheme for specialty steel will soon sign agreements with the steel ministry to take their investment proposals forward.

The selected players have already been sent letter of approvals post selection in the scheme, a senior steel ministry official said. On Friday, the government announced selection of 67 entries with an investment potential of Rs 42,500 crore under the scheme. The proposed investments are expected to generate 70,000 job opportunities and add 26 million tonnes of speciality steel capacity in the country.

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When asked about the next course of action, the official replied, “Now the selected companies will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) soon with the ministry of steel to take their commitments forward.” Except for the divestment-bound RINL, all major steel players along with a few others participated in the scheme, the official said, adding there was no application received from any international player.

As many as 35 companies had submitted 79 applications under the PLI scheme for specialty steel, while 67 entries were selected. Proposals that did not meet the minimum investment and capacity set-up criteria under the scheme were rejected, the official said. The top five steel companies — Tata Steel, JSW Steel, JSPL, AMNS India and SAIL — dominate the list of qualifiers under the PLI scheme for specialty steel. Besides, there are a few others like Gallant Metalliks, Kalyani Steels, Shyam Metalics Flat Products and Sunflag Iron and Steel who have been selected to invest under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

The Union Cabinet in July last year approved a Rs 6,322-crore PLI scheme to boost the production of speciality steel in India. Some of the categories of specialty steel included in the scheme are coated/plated steel products, high strength/wear-resistant steel, specialty rails, alloy steel products, and steel wires, and electrical steel.