 "JSW Steel, JFE to invest ₹5,845 crore in expanding electrical steel output")
JSW Steel — in collaboration with Japanese partner JFE Steel Corporation — on Wednesday announced expansion of its manufacturing capacity for grain-oriented electrical steel at a cost of ₹5,845 crore.
The investment would be through joint ventures JSW JFE Electrical Steel Private Limited at Vijayanagar, Karnataka (J2ES), and JSW JFE Electrical Steel Nashik Private Limited, Maharashtra (J2ESN).
JSW Steel said this capital investment along with previously announced investments at Vijaynagar and acquisition of the Nashik facility would take the overall investments to ₹15,560 crore.
In a statement, Jayant Acharya, joint managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO), said India’s green energy transformation, decarbonisation and digital infrastructure development were triggering large demand for high-grade electrical steel.
He said, “Our grain-oriented electrical steel investment is a critical step in enabling import substitution, supporting India’s energy transition goals, and delivering high-efficiency electrical steel solutions to the domestic and global markets.”
Grain-oriented electrical steel is an important material in the production of energy-efficient transformers and large and high performance generators.
Acharya added, “This investment with our long-standing partner JFE Steel reaffirms our commitment to building strategic and future-ready steel capabilities that serve both national and global priorities.”
J2ESN, formerly thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel India Private Limited, is one of the first manufacturers of cold rolled grain-oriented electrical steel in India with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) at Nashik.
Earlier this year, in a ₹4,051 crore acquisition, JSW Steel with JFE completed the acquisition of thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel India Private Limited.
On Wednesday, JSW Steel said that considering the increasing domestic demand for cold rolled grain-oriented electrical steel, the board approved expansion of this steel’s facility from 50,000 TPA to 250,000 TPA. The expansion cost was estimated at ₹4,300 crore
J2ES, a 50:50 joint venture between JSW Steel and JFE Steel, had planned to set up a 62,000 tonnes cold rolled grain-oriented electrical steel manufacturing facility at Vijayanagar with a planned investment of ₹5,557 crore. This was being enhanced to 100,000 TPA with an additional investment of ₹1,545 crore.
The additional capital expenditure for capacity expansion at Nashik and Vijayanagar would have equity funding of ₹1,966 crore. It would be funded equally by the JSW Steel and JFE Steel Corporation.
After completion of capacity additions, the overall cold rolled grain-oriented electrical steel capacity would increase to 350,000 TPA. It is expected to be commissioned in phases from FY28.
JSW Steel said this expansion reinforced JSW Steel’s commitment to building self-reliance in India's specialty steel sector and supporting national programmes such as “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
It would also address the rapidly growing domestic demand for high-efficiency electrical steel, especially in renewable energy, e-mobility and AI data centres, among others.