Committed to Bengal proj; hit by iron ore non-availability:JSW

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned the Jindal group's JSW Bengal Steel for delay in executing its project at Salboni, the company today said it is committed to the project but blamed non-availability of iron ore for the delay.
"JSW Steel requested West Bengal government to facilitate long-term sustainable supply of iron ore to take up active implementation of Bengal Steel project," JSW Steel spokesperson said in a statement.
The statement said the company had spent over Rs 600 crore on the project, but unfortunately, iron ore which is the critical input for steel making, was not made available to steel companies.

It went on to say, "Compounding the problem, iron ore bearing states are now restraining the movement of iron ore to other states threatening the survival of steel companies in non-iron ore bearing states".
Banerjee had yesterday in a public meeting at Salboni in West Midnapore district warned that if the JSW group did not construct the plant, the government would take possession of the land and give it to other investors.
The Jindal group had acquired 4,500 acres of land for a 10-million-tonne integrated steel plant along with captive power and cement plant that could draw an investment in excess of Rs 35,000 crore in the backward Jangalmahal area.

However at the same time, the Jindals said they were working in tandem with the state government on the project and expressed confidence that together the would find a solution to the problem.
The JSW group had signed an agreement on the project with the erstwhile Left Front government in 2007.