Jai Balaji to set up steel plant in Bengal

Kolkata: JaiBalaji Steel, which is investing Rs. 16,000 crore to set up a five million tonnes steel plant in West Bengal, is set to begin construction by this year on its project located in Raghunathpur in Purulia.

Mr.Aditya Jajodia, Chairman and Managing Director, said that in the first phase Rs. 5,000 crore would be invested to set up a two million tonne steel plant along with a one million tonne cement unit and a 400 MW power plant.

About 600 acres had already been acquired for the project, which needs a total of 3,800 acres of which 1,500 acres would be required in the first phase.

West Bengal Industrial Development Agency had already identified 1,200 acres. Company sources said that construction work may begin by the end of this year when physical possession of land was expected.

Regarding financial tie-up for this project, Mr. Jajodia said that for the first phase, there would be an equity component of Rs. 1,500 crore and a debt component of Rs. 3,500 crore. Besides steel, the plant would have a capacity for making three million tonnes of cement while generating 1,215 MW of power.

Mr. Jajodia said that the company clocked a turnover of Rs. 1,347 crore in 2007-08 against Rs. 1,073 crore the year before. The net profit shot up by 91 per cent to touch Rs. 118.80 core riding on the back of increased efficiencies and improved steel prices.