JOHANNESBURG: South Africa and Australia were the countries short-listed for establishing the plant at a cost of $40-45 million. Tata will make the final choice in the first quarter of next year. Tata Steel managing director B. Muthuraman and other company officials Tuesday visited the Richards Bay area for site inspections with South African officials. One of the country's major mining and industrial areas, Richards Bay has proposed an Industrial Development Zone, in which the proposed Tata project would be sited. Industrialists in Richards Bay said they were keenly awaiting the arrival of Tata Steel, as it would give the region a major economic boost. Their hopes were raised when Muthuraman said the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa had already been commissioned to undertake an environmental impact study. Muthuraman said a good relationship had developed with South Africa, where his company had been already active for some years. He said the common cultural understanding between India and South Africa would be a factor in the final decision. The proposed plant would help the Tatas increase its global market. High quality chrome ore would be shipped to the plant at Richards Bay for conversion to ferrochrome and the new product would be exported to stainless steel manufacturers.
Source: IANS