JSW Steel, one of the largest Indian steelmakers, has announced that it plans to increase the annual steel manufacturing capacity of its Vijayanagar steel mill in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to 13 million mt per year, with the expansion likely to be completed by March 2020. The plant currently has an annual steel manufacturing capacity of 12 million mt.
Meanwhile, the company has also launched various other upgrade and augmentation projects at Vijayanagar mill which are expected to result in substantial cost savings in operations over the long term. The capacity expansion and upgrade projects being implemented at Vijayanagar will entail a capital investment of INR 75 billion ($1.09 billion) until March 2020.
JSW Steel also stated that it has commenced operations at the Tunga and Nandi iron ore mines in Karnataka, which have a cumulative capacity of 710,000 mt per year. At the same time, the company expects statutory clearances and approvals for another three iron ore mines. The annual production capacity of the five mines acquired by JSW Steel, through auctions in 2017, is approximately 4.66 million mt per year. Once all five mines are operational, they are expected to fulfill approximately 20 percent of the iron ore requirement of the Vijayanagar steel manufacturing unit.