JSPL's plate mill, power units go onstream

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has commissioned the plate mill of its proposed six million tonne per annum steel mill at Angul. The company has also completed construction of two units of its 1,000 MW power plant proposed to be set up at the same location.

Presently, the company is taking up work on coal gasification, DRI, oxygen plant and coal washery unit.

The plate mill of six metre width has an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonne. Naveen Jindal, vice-chairman, JSPL, had claimed it to be the largest plate mill by any steel plant in the country during his recent visit to the state.

The state government through its nodal agency for land acquisition Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Idco) has allotted 970.34 acres of government land and 2,819.64 acres of private land for JSPL's integrated steel and power complex, minister for industries and steel & mines Raghunath Mohanty said in the state assembly.

Till the end of November this year, JSPL has offered direct employment to 1,413 people which includes 132 from Angul district, 485 from outside the district and within the state and 786 people from outside Orissa.

Once the plant is fully operational, it is expected to absorb 9,580 persons including 920 people in the managerial cadre, 220 technical officers, 3,750 people in skilled category and 4,690 in semi-skilled and other categories.

The project has also generated 12,204 indirect jobs in unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled categories.

JSPL has also committed an investment of Rs 500 crore for a downstream industrial park in Orissa, moving ahead with its string of investments in the state including a greenfield steel plant, a coal to liquid project and a proposed deep sea port.

The steel company last month signed a MoU with the state government for setting up the park at Parang in Angul district. The downstream industrial park is expected to attract investments of Rs 5,000 crore besides generating employment opportunities for 32,000 people, both direct and indirect. The park is also set to generate tax revenue worth Rs 700 crore per annum for the state government.

The company is keen on establishing a captive port facility at Barunei Muhan, the site located at a distance of 30 km south of the existing Gopalpur port and 18 km from Berhampur.

The port involves a capital cost of Rs 1,424.4 crore while the operational cost of running the port would be to the tune of Rs 152 crore per annum.

The captive port is expected to handle Cape size vessels (150,000 dead weight tonnage) for coal and coke and Handymax vessels (50,000 dead weight tonnage-dwt) for general cargo.

Phase-I of JSPL's captive port is scheduled to be operational by 2017.