After bagging Utkal B1 and B2 coal blocks in the Angul-Talcher belt in the state, Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) on Friday said it would develop its Odisha plant into the largest and greenest facility in the world.
This was stated by the company’s chairman Naveen Jindal. He said JSPL has secured sufficient reserves of coal to enable the mega steel company to enhance its capacity for green steel making.
He claimed that JSPL is the first steelmaker in the world to build Coal Gasification to produce steel using clean coal technologies.
Greeting the people of Odisha on the occasion of Utkal Divas, Jindal said, “We won the Utkal B1 & B2 Coal Block on 17th Punya Tithi of Shri OP Jindal Ji who had a vision of using indigenous coal to make steel. This will help us to translate the shared dream of Bauji and legendary leader Biju Patnaik ji to reality and bring prosperity to Odisha through value addition of natural resources and industrialisation”.
“Odisha is our karmabhoomi (workplace) and we are firmly committed to its overall development. Aligning with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s vision of industry-led holistic prosperity, we will make the world’s largest single-location steelmaking complex at Angul, Odisha by 2030,” he said in a tweet.
The High-Level Clearance Authority of Odisha, headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, had approved JSPL’s proposal to expand the capacity of its steel plant to 25.2 MTPA at Angul by 2030. This would be the world’s largest and greenest single-location steel plant, thus pitching Odisha’s USP on the global steel map.
The capacity expansion is expected to increase JSPL’s investment in Odisha to more than Rs 1,25,000 crore from Rs 45,000 crore at present. This is also expected to generate enormous economic activity and employment opportunities in the state.
The coal gasification route, also known as an environment-friendly technology, would be helpful in producing steel using indigenous coal, leading towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat, he said.
Stating that this would reduce dependency on imported coal and save huge foreign reserves, Jindal said the coal gasification technology can also help India to overcome the perennial shortage of oil, gas, methanol, ammonia, and urea.
Jindal Steel & Power Limited, through its CSR arm JSPL Foundation, will be setting up a multi-specialty hospital at Angul soon. Its construction will start by June this year, he said.
