JSW Steel Ltd, India's third largest producer, on Sunday laid the foundation of an integrated steel unit in eastern West Bengal state to produce 10 million tonnes of steel by 2020. The project on a free tax zone would entail an investment of 350 billion rupees in three phases, Sajjan Jindal managing director of JSW Steel told reporters.
"We would produce three million tonnes of steel by 2012 from the unit when it goes onstream, followed by six million tonne by 2015." he said. "We will reach our target of producing 10 million tonnes of steel by 2020."
The inauguration of the project at Salboni, which is about four hours' drive from Kolkata in an economically backward district, was marked by a huge presence of cadres of the ruling communists in West Bengal.
Last month, Tata Motors moved its ultra-cheap Nano small car project from the state in the face of farmers' protest over land seizure. The communists in the eastern state is showcasing the project to fight negative publicity it got when Tata Motors shifted its plant to another state.
Unlike the Tata plant, the JSW project faced no protest over land acquisition after the steel maker offered farmers jobs and shares in its unit JSW Bengal Steel.
The company has acquired 4,500 acres of land for the plant. JSW Steel owns 89 percent of the equity in the unit in Bengal. The remaining is held by the state government.