JSW Steel plans to set up beneficiation plants

Bangalore: JSW Steel plans to step up its investment on both acquiring iron ore mines and setting up beneficiation plants in Karnataka and West Bengal. The steel major would be spending Rs 850 crore over three years for setting up a 20-million tonne beneficiation plant in Vijayanagar in Karnataka.

A beneficiation facility has also been planned in Midnapore in West Bengal, where it proposes to set up a 10-million tonne plant. A similar capacity plant had been planned in Jharkhand. By 2020, JSW will enhance its steel capacity to 32 million tonnes from the current 5 million tonnes, said Mr Y. Siva Sagar Rao, Joint Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of JSW.

Addressing a press conference here on the opening of JSW Steel Shoppe in Bangalore on Monday, Mr Rao said the company was also investing in iron ore mines to achieve raw material security.

He said the beneficiation plants would help the company maintain a regular supply of the key input and protect it from price volatility as JSW had very little of its own ore linkage.

Mr Jayant Acharya, President (Sales and Marketing), said the opening of the Bangalore retail outlets under the company’s brand name JSW Shoppe was part of expansion plans to provide its customers all the products of the company under one roof.

Two outlets are already functioning in Hubli, one each in Jaipur and Kolhapur. In all 50 JSW Shoppe outlets would be opened on franchise basis this year, while 600 outlets would be set up eventually to market its complete range of products.

This novel marketing initiative aims to increase brand awareness about JSW Steel’s products and help in increasing the steel consumption in the country.