'JSW Steel may work to capacity in two months'

JSW Steel Ltd hopes to normalize steel production at its 10 million tonne per annum steel plant at Toranagal in Bellary district within the next two to three months, once the regular iron ore mining resumes in Karnataka.

“There is a shortage of iron ore due to stoppage of mining in Karnataka. We expect the Supreme Court and Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to approve the commencement of iron ore mining in the state within the next two to three months. We expect things to be much better in the next two months and hope to achieve 100 per cent capacity utilization at our steel plant,” Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Group, said.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of Global Investors’ Meet (GIM 2012) here on Thursday, Jindal said the company is currently using the dumps, which were available to achieve 85-90 per cent capacity utilization. The company hopes to resume 100 per cent after the resumption of regular mining in Karnataka as per the guidelines of CEC and Supreme Court, he added.

JSW Steel presently buys iron ore through the electronic auctions in Karnataka as directed by the Apex Court last year.

Currently, the CEC is going through the recommendations of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to finalise the reclamation and rehabilitation plan for various iron ore mines classified under the A and B category.

Earlier, Vinod Nowal, Director and CEO, JSW Steel, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka government for investing Rs 6,090 crore to expand the capacity of its steel plant in Bellary and set up a cement plant.

Till now, the company has invested Rs 25,000 crore to set up its 10 million tonne per annum steel plant.