Bangalore June 30: JSW Steel, a part of the $ 8 billion OP Jindal Group, is all set to set invest Rs 6,000 crore in the current fiscal to execute its expansion plans, which include capacity addition in its existing steel units in the country and acquisition of iron-ore mines in American and African continents.

The company --- which manufactures flat steel products like hot rolled coils, cold rolled coils, galvanised steel sheets and auto grade steel --- currently produces around 4.8 million tonnes of steel per annum from its Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka and Salem plant in Tamil Nadu.

"By the end of this year, the capacity at these two plants will increase to around 8 million tonnes and by 2010 to 10 million tonnes. We will shortly be setting up steel plants in West Bengal and Jharkhand and this will increase our production to 32 million tonnes by 2020," said JSW Steel's CEO Y Siva Sagar Rao at a press conference convened to announce the inauguration of the company's two retail outlets in Bangalore. Rao added that they have secured financial committments for this capital expenditure.

The company plans to start work on the steel plant in West Bengal in the next three months. "We had some problems with regard to land acquisition, but that has been solved now and we have got land. We are in the process of tying up with a mine owner in Orissa and have alerted coal suppliers too. The first phase of the plant will be completed in 30 months," Rao said. The plant, to start with, will produce 6 million tonnes of steel per annum and will subsequently touch 10 million tonnes. In Jharkhand too, the company is grappling with problems pertaining to land acquisition. The overall investment to be made in these plants is Rs 40,000 crore each, he said.

Forecasting a sharp rise in the country's steel consumption in the near future, Rao said the company is gearing up to meet the demand by ensuring stead supply of iron-ore, the key raw-material, to its steel plants. At present, the per capita consumption of steel in the country is 47-50 kg as against the global average of 180 kg. But there is a huge potential for the steel industry's growth, which is propelled by gross domestic product (GDP) growth, Rao said and added: "We have already acquired a few mines in Chile and are exploring tie-ups with mine owners in Mozambique. This apart, we are holding talks with mine owners in Karnataka for steady supply of iron-ore." The company plans to open 50 retail outlets across the country by the end of the year.