Tata Steel Ltd on Wednesday signed a formal agreement with BlueScope Steel Ltd, Australia, to form a 50:50 joint venture in India. The JV Company will manufacture zinc/aluminium metallic coated steel, painted metallic coated steel and roll-formed steel products and deliver pre-engineered buildings and other building solutions. The new JV Company will invest Rs 1,200 crores as capital cost on units in four manufacturing locations in India and a network of sales offices across Saarc. It will also build a state-of-the-art metallic coating and painting facility at Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, at an investment of Rs 900 crores.
The plant will have a metallic coating capacity of 250,000 tonnes and a paint line capacity of 150,000 tonnes annually. It is expected to be operational by mid-2008. Tata Steel managing director B. Muthuraman said: "Tata Steel and BlueScope Steel share a similarapproach to value creation in the steel business. Consumers would benefit from the range of solutions that will now be available to the building industry. This joint venture company combines the strengths of tly two organisations and would increase the use of value-added steel products." Mr Kirby Adams, managing director and CEO of BlueScope Steel said: "Together, BlueScope Steel and Tata Steel have forged a powerful partnership, which will capitalise on the strengths of our two organisations in bringing premium quality branded products to the building and construction markets of India and South Asia."
Mr Muthuraman and Mr Adams announced that Mr Chetan Tolia, who was chief of strategy and planning, will be the managing director of the joint venture company. Mr Tolia said, "This joint venture will deliver steel based building solutions to the construction industry. The customers will benefit from the increased speed of construction, wider design options, onsite assembly of factory manufactured components, improved site safety and reduced wastage. This will overall enhance the way the building and construction industry operates today."The investment is consistent with the Company's strategy of growing its downstream value-added products business. The decision to proceed with development of a metallic coating and painting facility follow completion of a rigorous 12 months feasibility study.
The plant will have a metallic coating capacity of 250,000 tonnes and a paint line capacity of 150,000 tonnes annually. It is expected to be operational by mid-2008. Tata Steel managing director B. Muthuraman said: "Tata Steel and BlueScope Steel share a similarapproach to value creation in the steel business. Consumers would benefit from the range of solutions that will now be available to the building industry. This joint venture company combines the strengths of tly two organisations and would increase the use of value-added steel products." Mr Kirby Adams, managing director and CEO of BlueScope Steel said: "Together, BlueScope Steel and Tata Steel have forged a powerful partnership, which will capitalise on the strengths of our two organisations in bringing premium quality branded products to the building and construction markets of India and South Asia."
Mr Muthuraman and Mr Adams announced that Mr Chetan Tolia, who was chief of strategy and planning, will be the managing director of the joint venture company. Mr Tolia said, "This joint venture will deliver steel based building solutions to the construction industry. The customers will benefit from the increased speed of construction, wider design options, onsite assembly of factory manufactured components, improved site safety and reduced wastage. This will overall enhance the way the building and construction industry operates today."The investment is consistent with the Company's strategy of growing its downstream value-added products business. The decision to proceed with development of a metallic coating and painting facility follow completion of a rigorous 12 months feasibility study.