New JSW Cement unit to boost investments ahead of Bengal Global Business Summit, says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday inaugurated a new plant of JSW Cement here and said its commissioning would augur well for investments in the state, ahead of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS). Banerjee also lauded the company for starting the project ahead of its schedule and providing employment to the poor. “JSW is a vibrant industrial group, doing well in the country. Their presence in Bengal ahead of the BGBS will give a boost to investment in Bengal and create a strong industrial infrastructure,” the chief minister said. “The initiative of the JSW authority will also create a huge employment opportunity in the state,” she said. The BGBS will be held on January 16-17 in Kolkata. At the Salboni plant, JSW Cement has so far given jobs to 155 people from the families of those who lost land for the project, company officials said. The company has also assured of investing another Rs 100 crore for setting up an 18-MW captive power plant, besides its plan to increase production capacity in West Bengal from 2.4 mtpa to 3.6 mtpa. “The current installed capacity at the Salboni plant is 2.4 mtpa. We plan to build another 1.2 mtpa capacity for which another Rs 300 crore will be spent,” MD of JSW Cement, Parth Jindal had said earlier. The construction would start six months from now, he said. The company had started commercial production at Salboni in August last year with an investment of Rs 800 crore for the 2.4-mtpa capacity. The total installed capacity of JSW Cement across the country now stands at 11.6 mtpa. Its vision is to build cement capacity of 20 mtpa by 2020. The company has also got into a contract with the state government for managing a super-speciality hospital at Salboni as a private partner. The chief minister attended an administrative meeting at Godapiyasal near here, which was followed by a public meeting, where she elaborated on the various projects the state government had launched for this region.