UK’s prime minister Rishi Sunak signed a deal with Tata Steel that will help convert a coal-based steel plant in Port Talbot into a lower emission electric arc furnace. PM Rishi Sunak pointed out how this deal will help create more than 4,000 jobs for the British people and will also help in lowering the carbon emission of Wales. “A big day for UK steel. We’ve agreed to a joint £1 billion investment with Tata Steel Ltd to save thousands of British jobs and secure the future of the steel industry in Wales. This follows the £4 billion investment we secured from Tata Companies in July to create 4,000 jobs”, PM Sunak Posted on X (Twitter).
According to the deal, out of the £1.2bn, the UK government will grant up to £500 million but the rest £700 million will be invested by Tata Steel in the period of the next 4 years.
Tata Steel will put its money into converting Port Talbot to a lower-emission electric arc furnace or EAF. The Company has projected that by building a 3 million-tonne EAF Plant it will reduce Port Talbot’s carbon emissions by 50 million tonnes over the next decade. Port Talbot steel plant is the biggest carbon emitter in the UK and the government has been looking to replace the furnaces in the plant for a long time.
Tata Steel’s chairman N. Chandrasekaran also said that this deal with the UK government will be a defining moment in the future of the steel industry in the UK and in Wales.
This deal will also be good for the Indian economy as it will allow Tata Steel to further expand its business in the UK.
The UK has the 8th biggest steel manufacturing industry in the world while India is the 2nd largest which is mostly attributed to Tata Steel itself. This deal or any such deal in the future will help the UK expand its steel manufacturing industry by providing more jobs and boosting its economy.