Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel has sought the help of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee get its ambitious 10 million tonne steel project at Salboni up and running.
Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel has sought the help of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee get its ambitious 10 million tonne steel project at Salboni, a tribal dominated area of West Bengal, up and running.
The project has not been able to take off even three years after the ground breaking ceremony and runs the risk of turning unviable unless iron ore linkages are quickly tied up.
The company has approached Banerjee, a key ally of the ruling UPA goverment, to help it secure iron ore supply from states like Orissa following the Supreme Court ban on iron ore mining in Karnataka, which has hit JSW Steel’s existing operations.
“I have asked Mamata Banerjee to take up with the central government the issue of a national iron ore policy. The states are creating problems by insisting that investments come to them only. It shouldn’t happen that we build the plant with Rs 35,000-40,000 crore and then we are stuck with no iron ore,” Jindal told DNA on the sidelines of Bengal Leads, an investor conference.
“We are working on linkages with NMDC. That is also our request (to the government). We are willing to buy even from the open market and we have linked up with a lot of suppliers,” said Jindal.
Biswadip Gupta, joint managing director of JSW Bengal Steel, a JSW Steel subsidiary, which is executing the plant that would produce 3 million tonne steel in the first phase, reiterated the company’s stance. “If the state wants a steel plant, it needs iron ore. So the state also needs to organise iron ore and help us, although we are also trying on our own.”
Jindal brushed aside concerns over delay in iron ore linkages preventing the financial closure of the Salboni project. “Those are minor issues… JSW’s balance sheet is strong enough (to raise funds for the project). The real issue is that if we invest so much money and then we don’t have the material to run it, then it would be a big setback.”
“Whatever is needed the government is providing. But unfortunately, the present industrial scenario in the country is such that nobody wants to take a chance unless there is a clear-cut policy,” said Jindal.
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