Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lights the ceremonial lamp during the ground-breaking ceremony of the new plant at Haldia

Jamshedpur, Feb. 19: Tata Steel will commence production at its new coke oven plant, the Hoogly Met Coke and Power Company Limited (HMCPCL), in Haldia from April 30, 2007.

The Rs 1,000-crore project, a joint venture between Tata Steel and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, will manufacture superior grade metallurgical coke primarily for use in blast furnaces of Tata Steel and also for sale in domestic and international markets.

The project also includes 90-mega watts of electricty generation through the waste heat generated by the coke oven unit.

Announcing the production commencement date, deputy managing director of Tata Steel, T. Mukherjee, who is also the chairman of HMCPCL told The Telegraph that the company has also signed a contract with Sino Steel Industry and Trade Group (SSIT).

The agreement is to source technology from Shanxi Provincial Chemical Design Institute in China, which ranks among the best in the world for this technology.

Further, a power purchase agreement has been signed between HMCPCL and the West Bengal State Electricity Board for sale of the power generated from waste heat.

Significantly, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee graced the ground-breaking ceremony at Haldia yesterday in the presence of officials from the joint venture company, the Haldia Development Authority and the Calcutta Port Trust, which has provided 180 acres for the mega project.

Addressing a gathering, he said the West Bengal government will extend all help to the Tata group to set up manufacturing units, such as iron and steel or automobiles.

The chief minister declared that after Mitsubushi Chemicals, HMCPCL was the second largest joint venture concern at Haldia, an important and strategic industrial hinterland of West Bengal.

Japanese firm Mitsubushi Chemicals has spent Rs 1,400 crore for the chemical project in Haldia. Moreover, the company has also embarked upon setting up a second unit in West Bengal, he disclosed.

The area?s MP and chairman of Haldia Development Authority, Laxman Seth, said the West Bengal government expects more investments from the steel major.

Seth also made an offer to the steel giant to set up a steel and ferro alloy unit at Haldia, the necessary nitty-gritty of which would be duly worked out between the state government and the Centre.

The new joint venture company, added the MP, will provide direct employment to 350 people and selection priority in this regard has been given to the local people.