News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 19 years ago
Rediff.com  » Business » Jindal plans steel plant in West Bengal

Jindal plans steel plant in West Bengal

Source: PTI
November 04, 2004 14:51 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Jindal Steel is planning to set up a new steel plant in West Bengal at an investment of Rs 10,000-12,000 crore (Rs 100-120 billion).

The plant with a capacity of five million tonnes would be located near Asansol, O P Jindal, chairman, Jindal Steel said on Thursday.

''It will come up in two phases of 2.5 m tonnes and will be completed in three-four years since commencement of the project,'' he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar 'Metals 2004', organised by the Bengal chamber of commerce and industry.

However, the fate of the project depends on availability of iron ore from neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Orissa.

''The project cannot come up until and unless linkage of iron ore and coal is ensured by the West Bengal government. The Orissa government currently does not allow export of iron ore outside the state,'' Jindal said. 

The finance of the project, if taken up, would be at the debt equity ratio of 1:1, with the equity component coming from the company's resources. Initially the blast furnace technology based plant would produce semi-finished products later it would yield long and flat products, he said.

Jindal said the company selected West Bengal for the plant because of its proximity to port, availability of coal reserve and skilled manpower.

Jindal Steel has already undertaken implementation of a two million tonne steel plant and another 1 million tonne stainless steel unit, he said adding the West Bengal plant would be the third of the company in the eastern region.

Jindal said the project would have a direct employment of 10,000 workers and provide indirect employment for another 10,000 people once the plant comes up. Regarding the problem of sourcing iron ore, he said there should be a national policy on inter-state movement of the raw material.

Asked how long the company would wait for availability of iron ore from the neighbouring states, he said ''We will wait for sometime but if the linkage beween iron oar and coal is not established, the project will not come up. However, we are not abandoning the plan now,'' he said.

Welcoming Jindal's investment plant in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee called for a national policy for inter-state movement of iron ore, which would benefit the industrialisation process in the entire eastern region.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
 

Moneywiz Live!