JSW plans to set up steel plant in Bengal

Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel will sign a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the West Bengal government for a 10 million tonne integrated steel plant in the new year.

Addressing mediapersons after a meeting with chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Sajjan Jindal, vice chairman and managing director

JSW Steel said, finalisation of MoA signing date was the highlight of the meeting. The MoA would be signed on January 11, 2007.

The integrated plant would have a capacity of 10 million tonne split into two phases. The first would have a capacity of three million tonne and would cost Rs 10,000 crore. A captive power of 600 mw would also be set up.

The project would create direct and indirect jobs for 10,000 people. Jindal said the plant would be completed in 36 months and work was likely to commence before monsoon next year.

The company would import some iron ore and buy the rest from the market. For coal, the state government would meet its requirements and a part would also have to be imported.

Sources said, as far as iron ore was concerned, it was likely that the beneficiation would happen at the pithead, which would be imported, converted into pellets to meet input requirements.

Jindal said, the plant would come up in Salboni near Kharagpur and the land requirement would be around 5,000 acres.

Responding to queries, he said, there should not be any problem in land acquisition since most of it was vested with the government.

However, he made it very clear that land acquisition was the responsibility of the state government. "We have come here on invitation of the government," said Jindal.