Shrugging off the impact of the slowdown, the Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel group has brought forward the date for commencement of work on its steel project at Salboni in West Bengal by about a year. It has also decided to scale up the investment significantly.
Emerging from a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Jindal said work on the steel and power project would start in six months. JSW was supposed to start work on Salboni next year after the 10-million-tonne Vijayanagar plant at Bellary in Karnataka was commissioned. In addition, it was to build a 1,000-Mw power project from March this year.
The foundation stone for the project was laid in November 2008, but the company had to go slow on the project soon after due to the global financial crisis. According to the earlier plan, the company was to invest Rs 35,000 crore in the steel and power plants.
‘Lost six months’
While the complete investment figure for the revised plant is not known, the company will spend Rs 22,000 crore on the first phase, which will include the setting up of 3-million-tonne steel capacity and 800 Mw of power. Eventually, the plan is to scale up the power plant to 1,600 Mw. The power project would be undertaken by JSW Energy and JSW Bengal Steel.
Jindal said: “We have lost more than a year because of the economic slowdown, but things have improved and we will start work in six months. Work on the steel and power projects would start simultaneously. The steel capacity would go onstream in two and a half years, while the 800-Mw power plant would be completed in three and a half years’ time.” The project has achieved financial closure. JSW is in talks with JFE Steel Corporation, the world’s sixth-largest steel maker, for picking up equity in the Bengal project.
Security a concern
Jindal also raised the issue of security with the chief minister today. The chief minister assured that JSW could ahead with the work whenever they were ready. Incidentally, it was at the foundation stone laying ceremony of JSW that Naxalites targeted Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy with a landmine.
