Jindal to invest additional Rs 5,000cr in Jajpur plant

Leading domestic stainless steel maker Jindal Stainless Ltd will invest an additional Rs 5,000 crore in its Orissa plant to double its production capacity to 1.5 million tonnes annually. The company is also examining the possibility of tapping the market through a public issue to part fund the expansion.

"We are planning to make fresh investments of around Rs 5,000 crore in our Jajpur plant in Orissa, which will double our overall production capacity," said Jindal Stainless Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director VS Jain.

When asked how the company would fund its expansion, Jain said: "The project will be funded mainly through internal accruals but in case the need arises, we will also tap the market."

The expansion, expected to be completed in 36 months, will take Jindal Stainless' overall production capacity to 1.5 million tonnes per annum from the present 0.7 million tonnes.

The company operates through its three plants in Hisar, Visakhapatnam and Jajpur.

Jindal Stainless expects its Hisar plant's capacity to touch 0.6 million tonnes this year while the Jajpur plant is presently operating at around 0.1 million tonnes per annum. The company has already invested Rs 2,300 crore in setting up a greenfield facility in Jajpur.

The first phase of investment was made to install basic input requirements, including a ferro-chrome unit and a captive power plant at the facility.