JSW Steel is all set to become the country's largest steel maker, dislodging state-run SAIL, with the commissioning of 3.2 million tonne blast furnace at its Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka by mid-July.
After the new capacity addition, JSW will be able to produce 14.3 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel, 0.7 million tonne more than the Steel Authority of India (SAIL).
"An announcement of this sort is likely to be made sometime next week," a source said and added that "the Vijayanagar plant will have a total production capacity of 10.2 million tonne, post commissioning of the fourth blast furnace."
JSW's steel-producing portfolio includes 3.1 mtpa capacity of Ispat Industries also, which was acquired by the Sajjan Jindal-led firm in last December. Its Vijayanagar and Salem units are currently producing about 7.8 mtpa.
Besides SAIL and JSW, Tata Steel and Essar Steel are two other big domestic producers, having a capacity of 7 mtpa and 8 mtpa, respectively.
The source further said that JSW Group has set a target to become a global conglomerate with $100 billion turnover by 2020 and 40 mtpa steel producing capacity.
The Group, which marks its presence in US, Chile, Mozambique and South Africa apart from India, had posted a turnover of about $9 billion in 2010-11. It is eyeing to close the current fiscal with a turn over of $14 billion, the source added.
Moreover, the Sajjan Jindal-led firm has also announced that it will increase the capacity of its Vijayanagar plant to 12 mtpa by 2014 from 10.2 mtpa of today and has sought government approval to expand its capacity to 16 mtpa.
The company is also hoping to secure funding for its proposed 10 mtpa steel plant in West Bengal by the end of this fiscal.
In January-March quarter, it had achieved highest ever quarterly production of crude steel of 1.647 million tonne, while the total sales of the company during the quarter ended March 31, 2011 stood at 1.733 million tonne.
According to the latest steel ministry data, India's steel consumption grew by 1.8% in April this year to 5.03 million tonne on increased demand from infrastructure and automotive sectors.
The country had consumed 4.943 million tonne of steel in the same month a year ago. Shares of JSW closed today at Rs 882.30 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange, up 0.06% from the previous close.
