Sambalpur: JSW Steel and Japan’s JFE Steel Corporation commemorated their new 50:50 joint venture, JSW JFE Steel Limited, with a ceremony titled “Forging Ahead” on Friday at Thelkoloi in Odisha’s Sambalpur district.
The event marked the public launch of the partnership, which was structurally completed on March 30, following regulatory approvals from the Competition Commission of India
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal, and JFE Steel President and CEO Masayuki Hirose attended the occasion, underscoring the strategic importance of the project for both companies and the state’s industrial growth.
The joint venture centres on the integrated steel plant of Bhushan Power & Steel L
imited (BPSL) in Sambalpur, which JSW Steel acquired in 2021. JSW has since upgraded the facility, raising its current crude steel production capacity to about 4.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). The plant produces a range of products, including hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel coils and sheets, bars, wire rods, and pipes, serving markets primarily in eastern and northern India.
The JSW-JFE venture would involve an estimated investment of around Rs 32,000 crore to expand the capacity by an additional 6 MTPA, taking total production beyond 10 MTPA. JFE Steel has committed approximately Rs 15,750 crore for its 50% stake, structured in two tranches of 25% each, with half of that already invested.
This follows closely on the heels of a landmark JV pact signed with South Korea’s POSCO for a new 6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant in Dhenkanal, involving another Rs 35,000 crore. This marks POSCO’s formal re-entry into Odisha after shelving a much larger 12 MTPA project proposed in Jagatsinghpur, from which it exited in 2017.