JSW Steel is aiming at expanding its capacity to 50 million tonnes from the existing 27 million tonnes by 2030, its group chairman Sajjan Jindal said here on Wednesday.
The expansion will be in both greenfield and brownfield projects.
JSW group will bid for PSUs like Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and iron-ore producer NMDC Ltd’s steel plant as and when they are divested, Jindal said.
“We must have an ambition in line with the country’s vision. If the country is aiming at 300 million tonnes by 2030, our target should also be aligned with that. A realistic target is 50 million tonnes,” he said on the sidelines of an Indian Chamber of Commerce event.
Delivering his speech there, Jindal said he challenges himself and his team for global scale capacities.
“I ask and deliberate with my team why can’t we have a 100 million tonne steel capacity? Why not plan 3x-4x growth for energy? We have to think at a global scale as China-plus-one offers a huge opportunity,” said the billionaire who also has interests in core sectors like energy, cement and port.
China-Plus-One is a global strategy in which companies avoid investing in China alone and diversify businesses to other countries.
Jindal said that he sees stability in steel prices and hopes export duty is removed.
The steel ministry has recommended removal of the export duty, he stated.
JSW exports about 25 per cent of its production and it has been hindered due to duties, he said.
To a question about ease of doing business, Jindal said it is an issue in the steel industry but it will be overcome.
“I had planned a steel plant in Bengal earlier but it couldn’t happen as we didn’t get iron ore mines and now that project has gone to Odhisa. We have a cement plant in Bengal,” he said.