JSW Steel in the process of acquiring land for steel plant in Odisha: Director Jayant Acharya

Along with the Odisha government...we are doing...the land acquisition part." It is the same land where POSCO was earlier looking to set a 12 MTPA steel plant, he said.

Domestic steel major JSW Steel is in the process of acquiring land at Jagatsinghpur in Odisha where it has proposed to set up a 13.2 MTPA greenfield steel plant, a top company official said. Speaking to PTI, JSW Steel Director - Commercial Marketing and Corporate Strategy Jayant Acharya said it is the same site near the port of Paradip where POSCO was keen to set up a 12 MTPA steel plant.

The Odisha government and POSCO had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard in 2005. However, the South Korean steel giant had to abandon its proposed Rs 52,000-crore project due to multiple reasons from delay in environmental clearances to protests by locals. The pact ultimately expired in 2010 and was not renewed again.

"We have plans to expand through both acquisitions and brownfield expansions and then followed by greenfield (project) if we are looking in terms of Odisha," Acharya said. The company plans to set up an integrated steel plant of 13.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) capacity in Odisha along with a 900 MW power plant for captive usage with an investment amount of Rs 53,700 crore.

Replying to a question on land acquisition for setting up the project, Acharya said, "We have already identified that (land) and the acquisition of that land is going on. Along with the Odisha government...we are doing...the land acquisition part." It is the same land where POSCO was earlier looking to set a 12 MTPA steel plant, he said. However, Acharya didn't provide a timeline for completion of land acquisition process.

The process is on and such processes take some time, he said. "Whatever necessary allocations are coming to us which are ready for payment we would be doing that," Acharya added.

JSW Group had approached the Odisha government for land after POSCO shelved its plan to set up the steel plant. Subsequently, all statutory clearances given to POSCO were transferred to JSW Steel. Last year in December, the hearing for the company's project was conducted.

"JSW's hearing was conducted peacefully and successfully. That is a huge development. The integrated project has been passed unopposed with almost the same investment that POSCO was looking for...We expect the work to start soon on the Rs 53,700 crore project," IPICOL Managing Director Nitin B Jawale had said. The Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL) is the single point of contact for all industrial investments in the state.

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