Hyderabad: India’s largest greenfield steel manufacturing plant at Anakapalli district, Andhra Pradesh, by global steel firms ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel (AM/NS) is set to enhance India’s capabilities in the world steel landscape, ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi Niwas Mittal said at the project’s groundbreaking ceremony off the coastal town of Visakhapatnam.
The first phase of the Rs 1,35,000-crore project is estimated to cost Rs 70,000 crore and will produce 8.2 million tonnes of steel per annum, the steel magnate and Indian billionaire said as he explained the significance of this project for Andhra, India, and for himself.
“For the Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar Bharat, Viksit Bharat, and Make-in-India vision, this steel plant is crucial. This is India’s era of advancement and steel is the backbone of all this development. I am overwhelmed and this is a moment of personal significance because we are giving shape to a vision that has been in the making for many years,” Mittal said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony virtually, congratulated the Andhra Pradesh government, saying that the project was a major milestone in Andhra’s development journey and that it would create opportunities for youth, positioning the state as a hub of industrial innovation.
More than 5,400 acres of land have been allocated at Rajayyapeta in Ankapalli district and manufacturing is expected to begin by December 2028, according to an official statement by the government of Andhra Pradesh. Once the second phase of the project commences, the plant will produce nearly 18 million metric tonnes (MMT) per annum, employing a lakh people directly and indirectly.
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‘Steel city, not just a plant’
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu told a gathering of more than 5,000 people that the project was a reality because of his government and the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) forthrightness in creating jobs for people. “We are rewriting history and there’s no turning back now. We are creating a steel city, not just a steel plant,” he said, recalling the first conversation he had with L.N. Mittal in 2024 about the project.
Vizag, the district that neighbours Anakapalli, is already home to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), a Navaratna public sector enterprise (PSE) under the Ministry of Steel. The PSU, which ran into financial, productivity, and people challenges, was visited by Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy and his deputy Bhupathi Raju Srinivas Varma before Monday’s event.
Both central ministers vowed financial assistance to RINL, also known as the Vizag Steel Plant, to enhance capacity utilisation, secure raw material linkages, improve operational efficiency and streamline plant processes. Minister Srinivas Varma assured the nearly 10,000 workforce of RINL that their jobs and the PSU would be secure even if ArcelorMittal’s plant achieves full plant capacity.
Once the new project is fully operational, the ArcelorMittal facility is expected to anchor many upstream and downstream industries serving Andhra’s many industrial corridors. From machinery clusters to logistics networks, the steel plan has the capacity to transform Andhra into India’s fastest-growing industrial state, CEO ArcelorMittal India Aditya Mittal said.
Crediting Chief Minister Naidu for the project materialising in record speed, the CEO of ArcelorMittal India said, “The project was finalised in one zoom call. Nakkapalli (in Anakapalli) is an ideal location for the steel plant and this project will be among the most advanced steel plants in India to be established at such a low cost.” The existing infrastructure enables the company to fast-track the project as it could also connect the pipeline to Anakapalli district. We will also be setting up a metallurgical institute here to train professionals in industry-specific skills,” Aditya Mittal added.
Andhra Pradesh Minister for Information Technology (IT), Electronics & Communications, Real-Time Governance (RTGS/RTG), and Human Resource Development (HRD) Nara Lokesh, said the landing of the project showcases Andhra’s ability to attract marquee projects. “Soon after the zoom call, approval for the project was given in two months, and land was allocated within three months. This is ‘Speed of Business’ in action and it shows that Andhra doesn’t just sign MoUs, it grounds them.” The project received environmental clearance in just 13 months, Lokesh added.
Besides the steel plant, AM/NS Steel India agreed to establish the New Age Makers’ Institute of Technology (NAMTECH), a future-ready industrial talent ecosystem in the state. An MoU to this effect was signed. To facilitate export of steel and value-added products, the Andhra government will construct a captive port at a cost of Rs 11,000 crore along the 2.9-km waterfront; it will have two phases and create 6,000 jobs.
AM/NS, a joint venture of ArcelorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel, was established in 2019 after acquiring Essar Steel.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)