Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL), the country’s largest stainless steel manufacturer, in the next three to four years will be investing around Rs 9,600 crore in its Orissa project. The company has already invested Rs 2,250 crore for setting up a greenfield integrated stainless steel plant in Orissa with capacity of 1.6 million tonnes (mt) per annum. JSL is also in the process of increasing its annual melting and hot rolling capacity at its Hisar plant to 900,000 tonnes from the current 600,000 tonnes by 2010.
“The project in Orissa is being commissioned in three phases. The first phase has already been completed with an investment of Rs 2,250 crore. The second phase will entail an investment of Rs 5,600 crore and the third phase would seen an investment in the region of Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore,” Mr N.C. Mathur, Director (Corporate Affairs), Jindal Stainless Ltd, told Business Line.
In the first phase of the project, the company has set up a ferro alloy plant with a production capacity of 1.5 lakh tonnes and two ferro-chrome furnaces which have already started production. “Also the ferro manganese plant with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) has started operations and the silico manganese plant with a capacity of 50,000 TPA and a 250 MW power plants are set to be begin operations soon,” he added.
In the second phase, JSL is looking at commissioning a 0.8 mt plant by December 2009 and another 0.8 mt in the third phase. According to Mr Mathur, out of the Rs 5,600 crore being invested in the second phase, Rs 3,400 crore was raised through loans, $250 million from ECBs and the rest from internal accruals. “Once the third phase of the Orissa plant is commissioned by 2010-11, for which we have already ordered the equipment, we will have a total capacity of 1.6 mt. So along with the brownfield expansion in Hisar the total production at both the plants is expected to touch 2.5 million tonne by 2010-11,” Mr Mathur added.
Pact with Mahanadi coalfields
JSL, recently, also signed an agreement with state-run Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and Shyam DRI Power Ltd to form a joint venture, Mahanadi Jindal Shyam DRI Company Ltd (MJS DRI), to mine coal from the Utkal-A and Gopalprasad block west project located in Talcher area of Orissa’s Angul district. Mahanadi Coalfields will have a 60 per cent stake in the joint venture, while JSW Group and Jindal Stainless will together hold 31 per cent. The remaining stake will be held by Shyam DRI Power Ltd. “The two coal blocks are estimated to have reserves of more than 700 million tonnes and the investment is expected to be around Rs 500 crore, mainly for land acquisition and rehabilitation,” he said. “We will be outsourcing the coal mining and the joint venture plans to float global tenders on a cost-plus basis,” he added. The proposed company is scheduled to produce 15 mt of F grade coal in three years.
Source : The Hindu Business Line
4th December, 2007