India’s largest stainless steel maker, Jindal Stainless Ltd, expects its monthly nickel consumption to double to more than 1600tns when a new plant starts operation in three years, a top company official said. Jindal, which runs a 600,000tpy plant at Hissar in northern Haryana state, is building a new factory in the eastern state of Orissa that will make 800,000tns of stainless steel when it begins production in 2009/10. Jindal aims to eventually raise its total capacity to 2.5 million tons to feed India’s fast-growing economy, but it has not set a time frame for the expansion that will include raising the capacity at its Hissar plant to 900,000tns, V.S. Jain, managing director of Jindal Stainless said.
