Essar keen on Bengal steel unit

After the OP Jindal group, Essar Steel is exploring the possibility of setting up a steel plant in West Bengal.

Chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said at the annual general meeting of Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) that he had a meeting with Essar officials last week and the company was looking at setting up a unit in Bengal.

When contacted, Essar spokesman said, as a group we always explore growth opportunities, West Bengal is one of the states being looked at as an investment destination. It maybe mentioned, Essar is also studying the prospects of setting up a plant in Orissa and has had discussion with the Orissa government.

Industry sources pointed out, the company would either set up the plant in Orissa or West Bengal and raw material would be the deciding factor. The Jindal group's proposed Rs 12,000 crore steel project in West Bengal was also dependent on the iron ore linkages.

As of now, the policy being advocated by the Orissa government was that lease for iron ore mines would be granted only for steel plants being set up in the state of Orissa.

It was understood that chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was discussing the issue with the central government. Essar, at present, has a plant at Hazira in Gujarat.

The Hazira plant comprises a two million tonne hot briquetted iron plant, a 2.4 million tonne hot rolled coil (HRC) plant and a downstream complex.

Sources said, since the company had a foothold in the western market, it made strategic sense to set up a plant in the east. Moreover, the shipping business in the group's portfolio would take care of the logistics issues.

It maybe mentioned, Hy-Grade Pellets Ltd, a joint venture between Stemcor and Essar Steel, has decided to set up a three million tonne integrated steel plant in Jharkhand at an investment of Rs 4,200 crore.

The project would create direct and indirect jobs to the tune of 10,000. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Jharkhand government and senior officials from the company.