Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd have inked a shareholders` agreement to form a 50:50 joint venture company - RINL-Power Grid TLT Limited -to set up a transmission line tower (TLT) manufacturing unit in Visakhapatnam. The transmission line tower unit with an annual capacity of 1.2 lakh tonnes will be set up at an investment of around Rs 330 crore in the first phase and is expected to take around 16 months for completion from the date of award of the tender. The techno-economic feasibility report has already been prepared by consultancy firm Mecon and around 50 acres has been earmarked for the first phase of the project by RINL at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. In the second phase, it is planned to have rolling mills which will enhance the total capacity to 1.8 lakh tonnes per annum of transmission line tower parts. The joint venture will have the advantage of procuring black angles and semis from RINL and will have a ready market for the finished products. RINL is expected to supply around 2 lakh tonnes of angles/ semis at the completion of the second phase of the project. RINL Chairman-cum-Managing Director assured that the first phase of the project will be implemented as planned and immediately thereafter the second phase of the project will be taken up. Power Grid Corporation chairman and managing director RN Nayak emphasised the need for quick completion of the project and implementation of the second phase. He further said the joint venture marks the entry of Power Grid into the manufacturing sector and assured all the support to make it successful. In the expanding power generation scenario, the project is expected to have a very good market, a release from RINL said, adding that the shore-based location of the unit will help the joint venture target the export market as well, giving a further fillip to the future growth of the JV company. The shareholders` agreement was signed RINL general manager (projects) Wilson David and Power Grid Corporation general manager (joint venture) Akhil Kumar in the presence of senior officials of both the companies at Gurgaon on Wednesday evening.