TEHRAN - The Indian companies Tata Steel and SR plan to set up steel plants in southern Iran within the next four years, Iran’s deputy minister of industries and mines for economic and international affairs said here on Sunday.

Mohsen Shaterzadeh stated that the companies have bought the land where they plan to set up the plants, which are projected to produce a total of 10 million tons of steel per annum.

The plant to be set up by the SR company is scheduled to become operational within the next three years and will produce two million tons of steel per year in its first phase, he explained.

Tata Steel Co. will complete the first phase of its plant within the next three or four years, which will have an initial production capacity of two million tons of steel per year, Shaterzadeh added.

It will be built in phases and will have a final capacity of about five million tons per annum.

The plant is to be located in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf.

The company has also signed an MOU with the Iran Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMMIDRO), which is affiliated to the Ministry of Industries and Mines, to facilitate investment in the country.

Feasibility studies for the projects are underway.