The State government on Monday assured the Assembly that it will establish a steel plant at Bayyaram and that there was no proposal to divert iron ore excavated there to Visakhapatnam.
To a question which was deemed to have been answered due to disruption in the House, the government stated in a written reply that the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) had agreed to establish a beneficiation plant and a pellet plant under phase one of the project at Bayyaram with an investment of Rs.1,000 crore. An integrated steel plant under phase two with a capacity of one million tonne per annum at a cost of Rs.4,000 crore would also come up.
The ore was proposed to be processed at Bayyaram by RINL, but a supply agreement to that extent was to be entered into it with the AP Mineral Development Corporation as directed by the government. Both phases of the project would result in direct and indirect employment for 5,500 people.
The statement denied that the government entered into an agreement with RINL to divert iron ore reserves to Visakhapatnam, but said a memorandum of understanding was signed by both of them last year to upgrade the existing steel plant in Visakhapatnam with an investment of Rs.42,400 crore.
