The successful conduct of public hearing has cleared the decks for JSW Steel’s mega steel mill and attendant infrastructure projects like captive power plant (CPP) and cement grinding unit. The projects proposed by Sajjan Jindal controlled JSW Steel are coming up near Paradip at the same site where South Korean multinational Posco had pledged the world’s biggest FDI then in 2005 but shelved the mega steel plant later.
JSW Steel’s projects in Odisha will be implemented by JSW Utkal Steel Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary. The public hearing was conducted peacefully at Kujang block in coastal Jagatsinghpur district close to the Paradip major port.
The entrenched opponents of the Posco project also pledged their support to the JSW Steel project, an official release said.
The success of this public hearing overcomes all hurdles to setting up of a 12 million tonne steel plant, a 900 Mw CPP and 10 million tonne cement grinding unit. Also, a multipurpose, all-weather Greenfield jetty with an investment of Rs 55,000 crore has been proposed as part of the project. The total outlay on all these projects has been pegged at Rs 55,000 crore.
In the first phase, JSW Steel will develop 2900 acres of land. The company in its original proposal submitted to the state government, had asked for 4500 acres.
JSW Steel has formed a wholly owned subsidiary- JSW Utkal Steel Ltd to fast track the implementation of its 12 million tonne crude steel plant and other inter-linked projects in Odisha. While the steel plant was initially proposed to be developed by JSW Steel, another group company JSW Infrastructure got the clearance to build the slurry pipeline. The company had requested the state government to transfer all clearances and approvals to JSW Utkal Steel Ltd.
Moreover, to secure iron ore supplies for its integrated steel project, the company has pitched for a long-term agreement for 50 years with state owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to supply 30 mtpa of iron ore fines at IBM (Indian Bureau of Mines) declared price.
The greenfield steel plant planned in Odisha is central to JSW Steel’s organic expansion. The steel maker aims to ramp up its total crude steel capacity to 24.7 mtpa from 18 mtpa at present. At the company’s 24th annual general meeting (AGM) in July, JSW Steel’s chairman cum managing director Sajjan Jindal said the company has firmed up Rs 45000 crore investment between 2017-18 and 2020-21 to expand steel capacities as well as modernize and expand its downstream businesses. Alongside organic growth, JSW Steel’s thrust is on inorganic growth too as the company continues to explore value creating strategic opportunities – both in domestic and international markets.
Through its acquisition of Monnet Ispat & Industries Ltd located close to the mineral laden belts in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, JSW Steel looks to expand footprint in central and eastern markets.
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