JSW Steel to spend Rs 8k cr per year from capex until 2020: Joint MD

Firm has charted out a capex plan of Rs 26,800 cr to be spent over a period of 3 yrs

JSW Steel's Rs 26,800-crore capex plan is on track and the company plans to spend Rs 8,000 crore this year, Joint Managing Director Seshagiri Rao said.

"Our mission is to become a 40 million tonne (mt) steel company... Taken together, we have a capex plan of Rs 26,800 crore to be spent over three years. So this year, we will be spending Rs 8,000 crore. All these plans will be completed by March 31, 2020," Rao, also the group's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), told PTI.

The company has already announced expansion of its capacity to 25 mt from 18 mt, and in the long run to 40 mt.

"Similarly, we are investing in our downstream units to expand our downstream capacity. Because today about 35 per cent of our total steel produced is value added. So, we want to grow beyond 35 per cent," he said.

At the same time, Rao said, the company has been exploring opportunities globally as its strategic objective is to become "a very efficient" global firm.

The Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Steel is also said to be in talks with Algeria's Cevital group to acquire its Aferpi steel mill in Italy for $100 million.

Asked about talks for Italian mill acquisition, Rao has said, "We will continue to evaluate (various proposals of acquisition) and if the opportunity is right, then we will take a call."

The company in the past had done some acquisitions and is not averse to good proposals, he added.

The private steel maker had earlier tried to acquire the mill in 2014, when it was known as Lucchini. The Algerian conglomerate Cevital, however, acquired Lucchini and renamed it Acciaierie e Ferriere di Piombino (Aferpi).

Aferpi's activity involves production of a wide range of quality and special steels, with different shapes and sizes for rails, wire rod and bars for railway, automotive, earth-moving vehicles, energy, fastening, springs and welding.

JSW Steel, the flagship company of the JSW group, is India's leading primary and integrated steel producer and has production capacity of 18 mtpa with plants across six locations in South and West India, namely Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.