JSW and POSCO to Launch Joint Venture for 5 MTPA Steel Plant in Odisha's Keonjhar District

JSW and POSCO to Launch Joint Venture for 5 MTPA Steel Plant in Odisha's Keonjhar District

JSW Group and South Korean steel giant POSCO announced a joint venture to establish an integrated steel plant with a production capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in Odisha. The joint venture is supposed to set up its plant in the iron-ore-rich Keonjhar district. The pact between the two steel majors was signed after preliminary rounds of talks between the promoters and a high-level delegation led by the chief minister during his investors’ meet in Mumbai recently.

Two patches of lands have been identified for the proposed project in the district. The first, approximately 2,500 acres, is situated near the Odisha Tea Plantation Ltd (OTPL) in the Taramakant area of the Banspal block. The second patch, covering 1,956 acres, is located in Patna and was initially offered to steel giant ArcelorMittal.

The survey of the OTPL land has been completed. One of the two sites will be selected for the proposed steel plant following a visit by a team of senior officials from the joint venture. If things go as planned, an MoU is expected to be signed at the upcoming Utkarsh Odisha: Make-in-Odisha Conclave 2025 in January.

If the project moves forward, it would mark POSCO's second attempt in Odisha after nearly two decades and the second joint venture in India in just two years. The company's earlier effort in 2005 to establish a 12 MTPA plant in the state was abandoned due to land acquisition challenges. In 2022, the South Korean steel giant signed a $5 billion deal with Adani Group for an integrated steel mill in Mundra, Gujarat. Meanwhile, the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is set to establish its second plant in the state. In February, it laid the foundation stone for a 13.2 MTPA integrated steel manufacturing complex at Paradip, with an investment of ₹65,000 crore.

Meanwhile, Industries Minister Sampad Chandra Swain stated that many industries are eager to invest in Odisha following the change in regime. “We are ready to welcome all industries and provide them with all kinds of support and facilities,” he said.

Since the BJP came to power in the state, CM Majhi has stressed the importance of balanced industrial growth for transforming the economy. The state government has established a dedicated task force, led by Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, to accelerate industrialization, particularly in the major mineral-producing districts in the state, to do away with the existing regional inequality and bring in holistic developments in those tribal dominated lands.

The state government has already handed over 2,958 acres of land to the company in Jagatsinghpur district, which was originally acquired for the POSCO project. JSW has also signed an MoU for an integrated EV and components manufacturing project in the state with an investment of ₹40,000 crore.