KADAPA: Bringing an end to nearly two decades of political promises and delayed starts, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will formally launch the full-scale construction of the Rs 16,350-crore JSW Rayalaseema Integrated Steel Plant at Sunnapurallapalle and Peddadanluru villages in Jammalamadugu mandal on Friday.
Over the past 19 years, the project has witnessed an extraordinary political journey, surviving five foundation-laying ceremonies under three different chief ministers - late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, N Chandrababu Naidu and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy - without progressing beyond the ceremonial stage.
The plant’s history began on June 10, 2007, when then chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for the ill-fated Brahmani Steels project promoted by Gali Janardhana Reddy’s Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC). Despite the allocation of 10,760 acres, the project collapsed following illegal mining scandals and subsequent CBI investigations, leading to the cancellation of the land allotment.
After the bifurcation of the State in 2014, public protests and hunger strikes demanding a public sector SAIL plant under the AP Reorganisation Act failed to evoke a response from the Union government. The then TDP government subsequently opted for a State-led initiative, with Naidu laying the foundation stone at Kambaladinne in December 2018.
Later, in February 2023, the previous YSRCP government renamed it the YSR Steel Corporation, signed an agreement with Jindal Steel after cancelling an earlier MoU with Liberty Steel, and initiated basic infrastructure works such as roads and a compound wall. However, the project slowed due to pending payments to contractors.
After the formation of the present NDA government, the project was revived through fast-tracked policy decisions under Government Order (GO) No. 131. The State transferred all statutory approvals to JSW Andhra Pradesh Steel Limited, allotted 1,100 acres at Rs 5 lakh per acre, and assured 2 TMC of water from the Gandikota reservoir along with 268 MW of power from the Jammalamadugu substation.
The plant will adopt scrap-based Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology powered entirely by renewable energy.
The project will be implemented in two phases, with full commercial production targeted by March 2028. Phase I involves an investment of Rs 4,500 crore to establish an annual production capacity of one million tonnes, creating around 1,000 direct jobs. Phase II envisages an additional investment of Rs 11,850 crore to expand capacity to two million tonnes per annum and generate another 1,500 direct jobs.