Continuous Annealing and Processing Company Private Limited, a 51:49 JV between Nippon Steel Corporation & Sumitomo Metal Corporation of Japan and TATA Steel, inaugurated a new INR 2,750 crore advanced auto steel facility.

The new facility, the country's first Continuous Annealing & Processing Line (CAPL) for manufacturing 'Automotive Grade Continuous Annealed Products', was inaugurated inside TATA Steers Jamshedpur Works. The unit will produce 600,000 tonnes per annum of high-quality cold rolled sheets exclusively for the automotive industry, including outer panels and high tensile sheets.

While TATA Steel has developed the infrastructure for the project, NSSMC has provided the equipment and state of the art technology. The project has been set up at a capital investment of about 2,750 crore.

JCAPCPL which was formed in early 2012 for producing high end cold rolled coils and sheets for the Indian automotive market, will source steel from TATA Steel. The latter currently enjoys a 42% share of domestic automotive steels market.

Through the JV, the two companies hope to cater to the increasing demand of Indian automakers for high-grade, high-quality automotive steel sheets.

A leading global steel producer, NSSMC was established in October 2012 following the merger of Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries.

The latest facility was jointly inaugurated by Mr Cyrus P Mistry, chairman, TATA Sons, and Mr Shoji Muneoka, chairman, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC).