South Korean steelmaker POSCO has joined hands with a private firm Shree Uttam Steel and Power owned by Miglanis who run Uttam Galva Steels Ltd to set up a steel plant in Maharashtra, as per a company disclosure.
The proposed plant would be the first in India for POSCO as it continues to battle regulatory hurdles for a decade-old mega project to set up a plant in Odisha.
Miglani family along with two other associate companies of Uttam Galva holds nearly 97 per cent stake in Shree Uttam Steel and Power.
This is the second major global steelmaker to join hands with the Miglanis.
In 2009-10, ArcelorMittal had bought a significant minority stake in Miglanis’ public listed firm Uttam Galva Steels Ltd, bulk of it through an open offer from the public shareholders. It is now a co-promoter of Uttam Galva.
Uttam Galva manufactures and sells cold rolled steel and galvanised steel and its products include cold-rolled close annealed and unannealed coils, galvanised plain and corrugated sheets.
In 2011, Uttam Galva had acquired Bangalore-based Brahmani Industries, a company engaged in manufacturing and sale of ferrous and non-ferrous steel, for an undisclosed amount.
POSCO is already running steel processing centres in Pune, Chennai and near Delhi. However, its main project to build a large plant in Odisha never took off. When announced nearly a decade ago it was to become one of the biggest greenfield projects financed through FDI. However, it got entangled and remains to this day mired in regulatory issues. The key issues revolve around acquiring land and mining rights.
Shares of Uttam Galva Steels last changed hands at Rs 40.85 each, up almost 8 per cent on BSE in a weak Mumbai market on Tuesday.