KOLKATA: Government is poised to finalize plans to set up two new steel plants in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, working on the promise to set up two such units in the wake of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. A task force created to prepare a feasibility report on the proposed new plants has submitted its report, steel minister Birender Singh said on Friday adding that the report will be made public after it is presented to the Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. ..........com

The steel minister's comments came at a function in Hyderabad where the country's largest iron ore mining company NMDC kicked off its diamond jubilee celebrations on Friday. Apart from Singh, the function was attended among others by the Vice President, minister of state for steel Vishnu Deo Sai, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao and union steel secretary Aruna Sharma. 

Speaking at the event the steel secretary said the country's steel capacity is targeted to reach 150 million tonne by 2020 from the present level of 126 mt. While the overall target is to achieve 300 mt capacity by 2030, steps are also afoot to promote new usages of steel in the country across onground, underground and overground construction and in infrastructure projects. While per capita steel use has jumped significantly to 65 kg in last two years from a level of 60kg, it still has a long wa ..