BHUBANESWAR: Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) Naveen Jindal on Sunday reiterated his commitment for expansion of the 6 MTPA Angul steel plant four fold to 25.2 MTPA by 2030 with an additional investment of over Rs 1 lakh crore.
After his meeting with Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra and Steel and Mines Secretary Deoranjan Singh here, Jindal thanked the State government for approving JSPL’s expansion proposal. The high-level clearance authority (HLCA) of the State headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had approved the JSPL’s proposed expansion of Angul steel plant in July. In November last year, the HLCA had approved its expansion plan to 18.6 MTPA with an investment of Rs 76,000 crore. The company had proposed additional investment of Rs 24,652 crore to increase the capacity of the plant to 25.2 MTPA.
Stating that the Angul plant will be the largest steel making facility in the world, the JSPL chief expressed confidence that the government will ensure raw material supply to steel plants of the State for value addition under the existing pre-emption policy.
Responding to queries, JSPL Managing Director VR Sharma said, “The company will participate in the forthcoming auction of iron ore mines in Odisha. Irrespective of the auction’s outcome, we are confident that the State government would make all out efforts to ensure raw material security for industrial units in Odisha and promote value addition of raw material within the State under its pre-emption scheme.” While as many as 11 mines including seven iron ore blocks are scheduled for auction, two iron ore and manganese blocks are up for e-auction, August 24 being the last date for submission of bids. Apart from the steel plant at Angul, JSPL has a 9 MTPA pellet plant at Barbil.