Jai Balaji Group to sign MoU with Bengal govt soon

Kolkata, Jun 18 (UNI) The Jai Balaji Group is set to enter into Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the West Bengal government within a month for its 5-million-ton steel plant at Raghunathpur in Purulia.

This followed the formal approval received by the state Commerce&Industries department.

Speaking to UNI, State Commerce&Industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen said the state government was currently negotiating the matter with company management.

The agreement is likely to be signed by within a couple of weeks.

'' We will play the role of the facilitator in the whole process and extend our support in land acquisition and connect the plant to water sources, coal mines and railway tracks, '' he said A 4,500-acre land had been identified on the outskirts of Raghunathpur for the project, which would also have a power plant and a slag-based cement unit. The company would start production two to three years after the land get handed overed to them.

The Jai Balaji Group, the largest player in the secondary steel sector, aimed the first tranche to be around 2,500 acre.

The company sources said a survey had already been carried out to determine whether any part of the land belonged to the government.

The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, on behalf of the state government, would buy the land from private owners and lease it out to Jai Balaji.

'' The MoU with Jai Balaji is the third big steel project in the state after Jindal Steel's 10 MT steel plant in Salboni, Midnapore and Bhushan Steel's 2 MT plant in Burdwan, '' he said UNI