The special commissioners of Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) are currently evaluating the two competing industrial plans for future of the steelworks formerly known as Ilva.
Italy’s minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, confirmed to local media that the bids were submitted by the deadline last Friday, Kallanish notes.
According to sources close to the matter, the proposal from India’s Jindal Group involves a transition from the current blast furnace route to green, electric-based steelmaking. The strategy, however, will focus on boosting Taranto’s re-rolling capacity rather than primary steelmaking.
Over the next four years to 2030, the Taranto plant would operate with two blast furnaces while one electric arc furnace (EAF) is constructed. From 2030 onwards, the blast furnaces would be shut down and dismantled, with production shifting to EAF steelmaking, significantly reducing Taranto CO2 emissions.
This would meet the decarbonisation objectives of the sale tender by phasing out the blast furnace route.
The government aims to reach production levels of around 6 million tonnes in the coming years. Jindal plans to achieve this through the integration and boost of Taranto’s re-rolling capacity, supplying imported slabs from its future Oman operations.
The group is expected to invest around €1.5 billion ($1.74 billion). Taranto would become a strategic hub within Jindal’s global steel and re-rolling network.
In contrast, the plan presented by US investment firm Flacks Group aims to increase production capacity at the Taranto steelworks investing over €5 billion.
Sources previously shared with Kallanish that Jindal’s plan could result in the permanent loss of capacity, with employment also impacted (see Kallanish 17 March).
Last year, Jindal Steel Duqm, part of the Jindal Group, rescheduled the launch of operations at the first phase of its hydrogen-ready green steel complex in Oman’s Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD) to 2028. The plant will include two direct reduced iron modules of 2.5m t/y each. The first unit is expected to be operational by December 2028, with the second to follow in 2030.
Jindal Group did not comment before press deadline.
