SAIL to Invest Rs 21,000-cr in West Bengal

The West Bengal government has entered into an MoU with the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and the Burn Standard Company Ltd (BSCL) to set up a railway wagon and component factory in East Midnapore's Jellingham, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said. SAIL will invest Rs 21,000 crore in various projects in the state.

The investment by SAIL will generate employment to the tune of 75,000 while the wagon factory at Jellingham, near Nandigram in East Midnapore district, will create 300 direct employments, said Banerjee.

The country's largest steel-maker is planning to commission its IISCO steel plant project at Burnpur in Burdwan district by the end of this financial year, SAIL chairman and managing director CS Verma said.

"We are hopeful of commissioning the project by end of this fiscal. Nearly Rs 13,000 crore has been spent on modernization and we are opening the project in a phase-wise manner," Verma said.

SAIL was also planning to start its two other projects in the expansion of the Durgapur and Alloy steel plants, by the end of this fiscal.

The steel major is also planning to set up a specialized 1.2 million ton alloy steel plant in Burdwan's Kulti at an investment of Rs 6,000–7,000 crore.