JSW Group Plans Rs 35,000-Crore Steel Plant In Odisha

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Odisha government to set up a 5-million tonne per annum steel plant in Keonjhar district.

The agreement was signed in presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Sajjan Jindal here on the first day of ‘Utkarsh Odisha-Make in Odisha Conclave’.

“The JSW (Group) will set up a 5-MTPA steel plant in Keonjhar district at an investment of around Rs 35,000 crore,” Industries Department Additional Chief Secretary Hemant Sharma told reporters.

Keonjhar district is located in the iron ore reserves belt, and the minerals were being exported to other areas from the district. As a result, the locals did not get any benefit from the mineral resources, Jindal said.

Asked whether South Korean steel major POSCO is also a part of the proposed Keonjhar project, Jindal said, “It has not yet been decided whether we will go for a collaboration with some other firm. It will be decided in the future course.”

Jindal said POSCO has evinced interest in setting up a steel plant in Odisha.

Majhi had earlier said that the JSW Group and POSCO will jointly set up a green field steel facility in his home district of Keonjhar.

Aditya Birla Group Chairperson Kumar Mangalam Birla, who also attended the Odisha business summit, said: “We are long-term investor in Odisha. We have already invested Rs 50,000 crore in the state and another Rs 50,000 will be invested in the coming years.”

The company will make investments in aluminium refinery and aluminium smelting, he said.

In a statement, T. V. Narendran, chief executive officer and managing director of Tata Steel, said in the last decade, his company has invested around $10 billion in Odisha.

“We have not only built a new steel plant from scratch in Kalinganagar but also acquired and turned around assets like Neelachal Ispat and Bhushan Steel, contributing to our 11-million tonnes capacity in the state. We expect to add another 10 million tonnes over the next decade,” he said.

Vineet Mittal, Chairman of Avaada Group, said it will invest Rs 20,000 crore in setting up a green ammonia project with 5-lakh tonne capacity at Gopalpur in Ganjam district.