Dutch government offers Tata Steel subsidies to accelerate production clean up

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government on Thursday said it would be willing to provide subsidies to Tata Steel if the company was able to accelerate plans to drastically cut pollution at its large plant in IJmuiden.

Tata's factory in IJmuiden, on the Dutch coast west of Amsterdam, is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses in the Netherlands and recent research has found it is also responsible for a range of health problems in the region.

Tata last year presented a plan to clean up the plant, including replacing a blast furnace with a cleaner installation and shutting down its most polluting coke factory by 2029, but said it would need subsidies to be able to realise this.

The government said it now wanted to reach an agreement with Tata Steel at short notice if the company could to accelerate its plans.

"This option would rapidly improve circumstances for people living nearby and reduce CO2 emissions, while preserving employment and the economic and strategic value of steel production," the economy ministry said in a statement.

Tata Steel Netherlands director Hans van den Berg told news agency ANP he was happy with the support the government was willing to give, but added that discussions on a possible agreement still needed to take place.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)