Devki to set up Sh10.3 billion steel factory in Taita Taveta

Narendra Raval (Guru), Founder and Group Chairman of Devki Group of Companies. [File, Standard]

Devki Group of Companies has acquired 500 acres of land in Taita Taveta county to set up Sh10.3 billion steel factory, barely two years after one in the neighboring Kwale county.

Taita Taveta Governor Andrew Mwadime handed over the title deed and other legal documents to Devki Group of Companies Chairman Narendra Raval to start construction of the factory

In November 2022, Devki opened a Sh50 billion steel factory in Samburu, Kwale with capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of steel annually. The plant has employed 2,500 people.

Mr Raval said the Taita Taveta project, will be completed within eight months. The project is expected to improve the socio-economic status of the region.

"We are starting the project this month and will be complete within eight months. Like what we did in the Samburu steel factory, we will give the local community priority in job opportunities," he said.

The booming real estate industry and infrastructure projects in Kenya and other East African countries have continued to draw steel makers into the country, where analysts say demand is rising.

However, investors in the sector also attribute the increase in investment in steel manufacturing to the discovery of iron ore, which provides the bulk of raw materials in steel manufacturing.

Raval said the project will require more than 100,000 metric tons of iron ore per month and would have a major economic impact on the local community.

He revealed that the region has huge iron ore deposits capable of sustaining the factory requirements for raw materials.

"Our decision to undertake the investment is a culmination of a geological survey which ranked Taita as the second region with the highest potential for iron ore mining and processing in the country," said Raval.

Other areas with potential for the mineral are Kakamega and Kitui.

Governor Mwadime, who handed over the legal documents to Raval, said the project was the would be a game changer for the local community.

The county government has allocated the investor 500 acres of land and issued a title to put up the steel factory in Manga along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway.

"The new project is the first of its kind in the county and will push it to the next level of development. It is a major step towards realising wealth and employment creation in the county and should be supported by all," said Mwadime.

Present were Mining Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi, Senator Jones Mwaruma, and MPs Abdi Chome (Voi) and Danson Mwashako (Wundanyi).