Jindal Strips Ltd has decided to reduce the scope of its stainless steel project in Orissa significantly. The company had proposed to build a 1.8 million tonne steel plant at Duburi in Jajpur district at an estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore. But following uncertainty over allotment of captive mines for the project, the company has now decided to scale down the capacity of the venture to 1 million tonne. The initial plan was to three modules of 0.6 million tonnes each for the stainless steel project, said a company source. “But due to uncertainty over tying up raw material supply for the venture, it has now been decided to chuck the third module”, he added. Besides, the size of the first two modules has also been reduced to 0.5 million tonne each.
The project included establishment of a 6 lakh tonnes per annum ferrochrome plant whose size now stand reduced to about 3 lakh tonnes. For this the company will require 7.5 lakh tonne of chrome ore as against 1.5 million tonnes estimated for the original size. The company, at present, holds lease over 99 hectres of chrome bearing land in Sukinda valley from which one lakh tonnes of ore is raised annually for use in the company’s ferrochrome plants in Andhra Pradesh and Raigarh.
