AM/NS India signs ₹16,000-cr investment deal with Gujarat Govt

GANDHINAGAR : Steel-manufacturer ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd (AM/NS India) has signed Memorandum of Understanding worth ₹16,000 crore with the Gujarat government. The agreements include an investment for the construction of a ship-building and repair facility at Surat.

The company had signed three MoUs with the Gujarat Maritime Board earlier this month, which includes a ₹5,000-crore agreement to build a ship building and repair facility. This will be the largest investment to be promised for the ship building sector in Gujarat after ABG Shipyard downed its shutters in South Gujarat.

AM/NS India has also inked agreements with the State government to develop greenfield captive jetties in Surat at an additional ₹7,500 crore. In October, the company had announced its decision to build a captive jetty having capacity of 65 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) at Suvali in Shivrampur village near Hazira in Surat district. 

All the promised investments mentioned in the MoUs by the company are for Surat district, where it operates a steel manufacturing unit. The company refused to comment on the investments. Other entities such as Essar Ports, Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd and HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd have also signed MoUs with GMB, in the run-up to the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 next month.

Essar Ports has inked an agreement to invest ₹10,000 crore in Devbhumi Dwarka district for a logistics hub.

Similarly, Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd has inked an MoU for building liquid berths and container berths and Yard at existing port at Pipavav in Amreli district at an investment of ₹3,300 crore spread over 10 years. Pipavav port is located 150 nautical miles from Nhava Sheva in Mumbai and is operated by APM Terminals.

HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd has also inked a ₹1,400 crore MoU for developing captive jetties at Modhwa in Kutch district.