Ballari: Steel giant, JSW Steel, has announced plans to increase the annual manufacturing capacity of its unit in Torangallu, 30 kms from here, to 13 million tonnes per annum by March 2020.
Currently producing 12 million tonnes of steel per annum, JSW Vijayanagar Works is the largest state-of-the-art single location steel manufacturing unit in the country.
"The new capacity creation at JSW Vijayanagar Works supports our company's growth plans, while further improving the efficiency of our manufacturing operations. With steel consumption in the country expected to grow, these capacity enhancement initiatives will ensure our readiness to promptly service emerging customer demand," said Dr Vinod Nowal, deputy managing director, JSW Steel, addressing a press conference at the company's premises here on Wednesday.
He said the company had also launched various other upgradation and augmentation projects at the Vijayanagar plant requiring a capital investment of Rs 7,500 crore until March 2020.
On the industry’s key raw material, iron ore, Mr Nowal said J Steel had begun operations at two iron ore mines in Tunga and Nandi in Ballari district after receiving statutory clearances. It expected clearances for the remaining three mines during the current fiscal.
He revealed that the annual production capacity of the five mines acquired by JSW steel through auction last year was approximately 4.66 million tonnes per annum, which was expected to fulfill approximately 20 per cent of the ore requirement of JSW Vijayanagar. Earlier, JSW Steel was completely dependent on external markets to meet its ore requirements.
Reacting to concerns of social organisations about the granting of a mining lease to JSW near the ancient temple of Kumaraswamy in Sandur, Mr Nowal said it had acquired the Nandi mines in the auction in accordance with the Supreme Court's direction. "We have started mining operations beyond a 1 km radius of the temple although we lose half the mining area granted to us only for its protection,” he added.
