JSL hikes investment on Orissa project to Rs 6,400 cr

Stainless steel producer JSL Stainless today said it has increased the proposed investment on phase-II development of its Orissa plant to Rs 6,400 crore to augment production capacity to 1 million tonnes per annum.

"As per the revised financial closure for phase-II of the project, we are investing Rs 400 crore (more) in Orissa project to take the annual stainless steel production capacity to 1 million tonnes by 2012-13," JSL Stainless Director (Strategy and Business Development) Arvind Parakh told PTI.

The company, formerly known as Jindal Stainless, had originally envisaged setting up an 8 lakh tonnes per annum stainless steel plant in Orissa. The original sanctioned investment on Phase-II development was about Rs 6,000 crore, he said.
   
The project is being funded in the debt-equity ratio of 70:30.
    
"Now, we have decided to add a blast furnace to the plant to ramp up its proposed annual stainless steel production capacity to 1 million tonnes. We are in the process to finalise its supplier. We are talking to a few European and Asian firms for the same," he added.
    
Parakh said the schedule to launch the under-construction 8 lakh tonnes per annum unit in the state has been advanced by six months from the earlier deadline of March, 2012, as the firm is keen to tap rising demand for the alloy in India, mainly from the infrastructure space.
    
"The commissioning of 8 lakh tonnes unit has been advanced by 3-6 months. It will be fully commissioned in the beginning of the last quarter of the current fiscal.
    
"The company at present produces about 7.5 lakh tonnes of stainless steel from its facilities in Hissar, Haryana. The company has a total debt of about Rs 7,200 crore and has cash reserves of Rs 350-400 crore," Parakh said.
    
"The company is in process of finalising documents of its corporate debt restructuring programme, which was closed in March this year," he added.