Bhubaneswar, Feb. 18: The production capacity of public sector unit Rourkela Steel Plant will be doubled soon as part of the ongoing modernisation and capacity expansion programme.

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) chairman Chandra Sekhar Verma said this during his meeting with Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik here today. Verma said the ongoing modernisation at the Rourkela Steel Plant was going in the right direction.

Later, speaking to reporters here, the SAIL chief said: “An amount of Rs 12,000 crore has been allocated for the modernisation and expansion programme of the steel plant. Its production capacity will be doubled soon and country’s biggest blast furnace will come up in the plant by July this year.”

The modernisation of the steel plant had started in January 2008. According to the estimate, the hot-roll steel production will be doubled to nearly 5 million tonne once the modernisation programme is completed. Verma also hinted that SAIL would go for a joint venture in steel production with South Korean steel giant Posco. “We will soon have some good news in this regard,” he said.