JSW Steel will invest ₹9,000 crore in setting up a 8 million tonne per annum pellet plant and associated slurry pipeline from its iron ore mines to the plant at Jagatsinghpur district, near Paradeep in Odisha.
The plant is part of the company’s proposal to set up a 13.2 million tonne per annum integrated steel plant in the State.
Jayant Acharya, Joint Managing Director, JSW Steel told businessline that the company intends to build the greenfield steel plant in a modular fashion starting with the pellet plant and the slurry pipeline.
Project capex
The initial investment for the pellet plant will be made from the ₹18,800 crore capex planned for this fiscal and the pellet plant is expected to be completed in three years, he added.
The company intends to use the pellet produced in its Dolvi plant till the greenfield steel plant is fully commissioned.
JSW Steel has already received environmental clearance for the steel plant in Odisha and is waiting for a portion of the land to be acquired and transferred to the company with proper boundary demarcation.
The company has initially envisaged a capital expenditure of about ₹65,000 crore in the integrated steel plant project including the associated facilities.
JSW Steel has been focusing largely on brownfield expansion in its existing facilities including the ongoing project of 5 mtpa at Vijayanagar in Karnataka. It recently completed 5 mtpa expansion at Dolvi in Maharashtra.
In general, a greenfield steel project of 1 million tonne per annum calls for an investment of about ₹6,000 crore while brownfield expansion of same capacity requires ₹5,000 crore.
Acharya said JSW Steel targets to achieve a capacity of 50 million tonnes by the end of the decade with greater focus remaining on the domestic market. This will make JSW Steel one of the largest steel producers globally and the company’s growth strategy focuses on responsible expansion in India, emphasising sustainability and decarbonisation.
JSW Steel has a diverse portfolio of value-added products and will continue to innovate and grow these offerings, he said.