JSW to build 3-MT cement plant in Bengal

Kolkata: Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Steel Group will be setting up a three million tonne cement plant at Salboni in West Bengal, where it has already decided to develop a 10 million tonne integrated steel plant with an investment of Rs 35,000 crore.

'We have planned a three million tonne cement plant. JSW Bengal will construct the cement plant prior to the steel plant as part of the project,' JSW Bengal Managing Director Biswadip Gupta said.

'As per the environment clearance for the project we cannot throw any solid waste out of project area. To utilize the slag of the proposed steel plant we have decided to set up the cement plant,' he said.

The cement plant would become operational before the steel plant and feed slag from other sources as long as the steel plant does not start rolling.
Gupta could not give the exact project cost, saying it would not be less than Rs 500 crore and depend on technology used.

The company would also have a power plant at the proposed site.

JSW was also planning to increase the phase-I steel capacity from the earlier proposal of three million to six million tonne.

The company was projected to achieve six-million tonne capacity by mid 2011.

Accordingly, the total investment plan had been revised to Rs 16,000-18,000 crore. Initially, the investment in the first phase was proposed at Rs 10,000 crore with a three million tonne steel capacity.