Calcutta, Oct. 18: JSW Group has decided to scale up its plans for Bengal by pledging to invest Rs 3,300 crore in cement, paint and a secondary steel mill with a potential to create jobs for 3,000 people.

Sajjan Jindal, chairman of the steel-to-power behemoth, met Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee this afternoon and shared the progress on ongoing and upcoming projects.

The group was provided 4,000 acres of land in Salboni, the highest for a private sector company in Bengal, for an integrated steel and power plant by the erstwhile Left Front government in 2008. All the units announced today will come up on that plot.

"We will double the capacity of the cement plant which is being set up. Moreover, we have decided to set up a decorative (household) paints plant and a downstream plant for cold rolling, colour coated and galvanising steel," Jindal said.

The paints unit will have a capacity of 2 lakh kilolitre and will be set up at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore, while the 0.5-million-tonne steel plant will require Rs 1,000 crore. Both units are expected to be complete within three years.

The under-construction cement plant, to go into production by March next year, will be doubled at an investment of Rs 700 crore, taking its capacity to 4.8 million tonnes. Jindal also spoke of building a 18 megawatt power plant for the company's own consumption for Rs 100 crore.

For investment-starved Bengal, Jindal's promises were music to the ears of chief minister Banerjee who termed it a "sweet gift" for the state after the just-concluded festivities.

The proposals, however, look pale when compared with the original plan of a 10-million-tonne integrated steel mill and 1,600MW power unit for Rs 35,000 crore. Those projects did not see the light of the day because of unavailability of raw material and a meltdown in global steel demand.

As part of the new plans, the paint unit will cater to the eastern market, while the secondary steel unit will target Bangladesh and Myanmar apart from the east and north-eastern states.

Steel, the primary raw material for the cold-rolled, galvanised and colour coated products unit, will come from JSW's Maharashtra plant.

In paints, Bengal will be the third unit for the group after Maharashtra and Karnataka, signalling its foray into new business verticals.

Model farm

Jindal will also build a model farm at Salboni on a sliver of land it had acquired from villagers and had proposed to return subsequently. Of the entire plot, only 294 acres were acquired directly from villagers, while the rest came from the government's own land bank.

JSW decided to return the acquired plot to land losers in 2014 as the steel plant did not come up but the villagers sought the jobs as promised and declined to take the land back.

The model agri farm is now being proposed on the 294-acre area by JSW as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.

"We will develop a farm to train the farmers and provide them model technology to increase farm productivity. Profit from the venture will go to the farmers. JSW has already done similar projects in Karnataka and Maharashtra (where it has primary steel plants)," Jindal said.

Chief minister Banerjee said the agriculture department of the state will partner Jindal in the project.

Pariskar Mahato, president of JSW Land Loser Association, said the Jindals were welcome to set up a model farm but they have to fulfil their commitment. "We were assured one job per family and shares of the company. This has to be honoured," Mahato said.

Asked if JSW plans to induct people from such families, Jindal said they would require skilled workforce. "We will train them in the ITIs at our cost and deploy them," he said. There are 800 land losers on the 294-acre plot.