The government of the eastern Indian state of Odisha has approved JSW Limited’s 12 million mt per year steel mill project, the construction of which is expected to commence in 2020, a government official said on Tuesday, May 29.
The JSW project is part of the Odisha government’s initiative to make the region a steel manufacturing hub of the country, leveraging the available iron ore resources, the official said.
The government official also stated that the state government has signed 33 memorandums of understanding with various private investors for the setting up of greenfield steel mills in Odisha of which 10 projects with an aggregate steel production capacity of 13.13 million mt per year are under various stages of implementation.
Towards the aim of making Odisha a steel manufacturing hub in India, the state government wanted to leverage iron ore resource availability and hence has petitioned the federal Ministry of Mines seeking that the permitted lease area for an iron ore mine be increased from the existing maximum limit of 10 square km to 75 square km, the official said.
Higher acreage of the mine will offer greater economies of scale of operation of the mine for the proposed steel projects, ensuring higher raw material security for projects, he added.