“The investment is through the company’s subsidiary, Jindal Steel Andhra Limited. The company has identified Krishnapatnam port as a strategic location for setting up the plant,” said a person close to the development requesting anonymity.
Several sources said that the company has sent a letter to the Andhra Government requesting land approval of 1,000-1,300 acres at the rate of ₹1-1.5 lakh per acre.
The State Investment Promotion Board on Tuesday said it has approved the allotment of 860 acres of land at a lower price for the plant which is proposed to be established near Momidi and Tamminapatnam villages of Chillakuru Mandal in Nellore district.
Chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy who chaired the meeting had said that new industries in the state should provide 75% of the jobs to locals and strictly comply with the pollution control norms.
“The company estimates direct employment generation of nearly 2,500 people with over 15,000 people benefitting from indirect employment opportunities. The business operation is also expected to generate a revenue of ₹13,000 crore annually,” the person quoted above said.
The company is planning to double capacity to 12 million tonnes via the brownfield route at Angul in Odisha with a planned capex of ₹18,000 crore.
The company is also planning to divest 100% of its power subsidiary Jindal Power Ltd (JPL) in order to bring down the company’s overall debt. The total deal value including the company’s debts is estimated at approximately ₹12,000-13,000 crore. The cash generation will be utilised for the upcoming investments.
JSPL’s consolidated net debt during the March quarter of FY21 was down by ₹3,475 crore and by ₹13,773 crore in FY21. The company’s net debt was at ₹19,332 crore on a consolidated basis.
The company’s management has been talking about achieving EBIDTA levels of ₹15,000 crore and revenue of more than ₹50,000 crore in the coming years.
“We will continue to work towards our target of 15:15:50, i.e., ₹15,000 cr EBITDA: ₹15,000 cr net debt: ₹50,000 cr gross turnover,” said VR Sharma, managing director at JSPL in an earlier interaction.
