Sajjan Jindal led JSW Steel is setting up the largest, single location greenfield steel project in the country near Paradip in the eastern state of Odisha. The ultimate capacity of the Odisha steel mill might touch 20 MnT, a senior JSW Steel executive said.
The steel firm had originally proposed a 10 MnT p.a capacity shore-based steel unit in Odisha. Later, the project was redrawn to expand capacity to 12 MTPA. The steel plant is coming up on the same site where South Korean multi-national Posco had once pledged USD 12 billion on a 12 MnT steel plant. But, Posco aborted its project and offered to surrender the 1700 acres of land handed over by state owned Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).
JSW Steel is likely to get 2700 acres of land from Idco to set up its facility. An announcement from the state government on land transfer to JSW Steel is likely to be made at the ensuing meeting of the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority. The meeting is likely to be convened anytime later this week.
JSW Steel is also hopeful of beginning project related activity in Odisha in the next financial year after getting land.
The company has decided to execute its string of projects in Odisha via a fully owned subsidiary. The steel company has christened it as JSW Utkal Steel Ltd. The company is already incorporated with the Registrar of Companies.
Official sources say, JSW Steel has sought permissions from the local government in Odisha to facilitate implementation of its projects by its subsidiary. It has submitted the papers and is awaiting a decision from the state government.
JSW Steel’s board has taken the decision to form the subsidiary company. The objective is to speed up the slew of projects proposed by the company in the state. Investment commitments by the company are for a 12 MnT p.a crude steel facility, an associated 900 Mw CPP, an iron ore pellet unit of 32 MnT p.a capacity, a captive port to handle its cargo and a slurry pipeline to carry iron ore concentrates from Joda to Paradip, the designated site of the mega steel plant.
The combined outlay for all these projects is Rs 55,000 crore. JSW Steel has got the approval for a 10 MnT plant proposed originally. In a revised application, it sought to enhance capacity to 12 MnT p.a. In parallel, another group firm JSW Infrastructure has secured clearances to install the slurry pipeline. Now, JSW Steel wants all approvals and clearances to be transferred to the subsidiary company.
The steel maker also wishes to put up a captive port to handle its own cargo at Jatadhari river mouth, south of the Paradip major port. Initial estimates have pegged the port capacity at 10 MnT p.a, later the cargo handling capacity could be expanded to 40 MnT p.a. It is awaiting the state government nod for this port project which is an integral part of the steel project.
The proposed JSW Steel plant in Odisha envisages producing both flat and long steel products, projecting a better portfolio than the current operational steel plants of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) at Angul and Tata Steel’s greenfield unit at Kalinganagar. Also, the JSW facility is tipped to be the biggest single location steel facility anywhere in the country after it gets on stream.
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