JSW Steel, MISI joint venture to set up a steel processing centre in Pune

Eyeing at expanding its presence with the automobile manufacturers, JSW Steel today said it will set up a 3.60 lakh tonnes per annum (LTPA) capacity steel processing centre in Pune, with its joint venture partner Marubeni Itochu Steel Inc of Japan.

Pune is one of the automobiles hubs in the country. The JSW project will be divided into two equal phases of 1.80 LTPA each and the first phase is expected to come on stream by the end of current fiscal, the company said in a statement.

"The project will be set up at a capital cost of Rs 204 crore and will be funded through 50 per cent equity and 50 per cent debt element," JSW further said.

Commenting on the plan, company's joint managing director and CFO Seshagiri Rao said, "The rapid growth of the Indian steel industry offers tremendous opportunity for supply of high end processed steel. We can leverage the global sales network of expertise of service centre operations of MISI and the world class technology products manufactured by JSW."

In 2011, JSW and Marubeni Itochu Steel Inc (MISI) had formed a JV to set-up a steel processing centre near Palval in Haryana, under the name of "JSW MI Steel Service Center Pvt Ltd".

The joint venture company is equipped to process flat steel products such as hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products. The products can be used by the automotive, white goods, construction and other value added segments.

JSW Steel, led by Sajjan Jindal, is the second largest domestic steelmaker after SAIL. It has a production capacity of 14.3 million tonnes annually from its 3 plants, Vijayanagar, Salem and Dolvi (near Mumbai).

Following the announcement, shares of the company were trading in green at Rs 739.65 apiece on the BSE at 1320 hours, up 1.36 per cent from the previous close