Kalyani to have Rs 6,500-cr unit in Bengal

Integrated steel, power project will have capacity of 1 million tonne and 500 mw respectively.

Kalyani Steels, a part of the Rs 8,000 crore Kalyani group that has diverse businesses such as engineering steel, forgings and auto components, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state industry and minerals officials for a Rs 6,500 crore integrated steel and power project in West Bengal.

The steel plant will have a capacity of one million tonnes and the power plant is planned for 500 mw, along with downstream operations.

The agreement was signed with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and West Bengal Mineral Development & Trading Corporation (WBMDTC).

Amit B Kalyani, executive director, Kalyani Steels, said that the plant would essentially produce long products. For the downstream project, Kalyani group’s flagship company Bharat Forge may look at setting up a unit.

Kalyani said the group deliberated with the Bengal investment issue for a year and a half, before reaching an understanding on the nature of the project.

A detailed project report would be ready within a year. “We will definitely work within a shorter timeframe,” Kalyani said.

The project will be completed within 36 to 45 months from the commencement of work.

The next step would be to identify land for the project.

West Bengal minister for commerce and industry, Nirupam Sen, said, the company would be shown land in West Medinipur, near Salboni where JSW has a mega steel plant. Durgapur could be an alternative location.

The Bengal facility will be the third for the Kalyanis. The group has integrated steel plants at Ginigera in Karnataka and Tadipatri in Andhra Pradesh.

The group also has bigger plans for West Bengal. Kalyani said the group is in discussions with WBIDC for a high-end manufacturing cluster.

The minister said several companies were looking to invest in West Bengal as they have realised that a lot of investment is happening in the metals, metallurgy and automobile space in the state.

He said a high-end manufacturing park would also be set up and the association with the Kalyani group would help the state government attract other investors.

The Kalyani group was already setting up a similar project, though larger in size, in Maharashtra. Kalyani said the Maharashtra project would be completed in three years.

Also, Kalyani Thermal Systems, another group company, will make forgings for the Nano, the Rs 1 lakh car from the Tatas that is being manufactured at Singur in West Bengal. The company could look at setting up a unit in the state.