JSW Steel Ltd, promoted by billionaire Sajjan Jindal, has outlined an investment of ₹20,000 crore in this fiscal to scale up capacity, build value-added downstream facilities and expand mining operations despite the setback over subsidiary Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd, which has been sent to liquidation by the Supreme Court.
On Friday, the company’s board approved a fresh capex of ₹14,065 crore, over and above the amount approved earlier, in its journey to reach a 43.4-million-tonne capacity by September 2027, when an additional 5 mt plant is expected to be ready at Maharashtra’s Dolvi. The projection, however, includes the 4.5 mt operating capacity of BPSL, whose fate now hangs in the balance.
In a post results conversation with The Telegraph, Jayant Acharya, joint managing director and CEO of JSW Steel, said India’s steel demand is likely to go up by 13-14 mt in this year and JSW is “well placed to take advantage of that growth story in India.”
He also stressed that JSW believed it has ‘strong grounds’ to seek legal remedies on BPSL and noted that the company’s downside as far as its investment in the subsidiary is ‘very well protected’ by the resolution plan itself.
On Monday, JSW’s plea before the apex court to defer the liquidation process will be placed before a bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.
On May 2, Justice Trivedi and Justice Sharma’s bench had cancelled the ₹19,700 crore acquisition of BPSL four years after implementation and ordered the liquidation of the company.
Growth story intact
In this fiscal, the company said it is focusing on ramping up a new 5 mt capacity, which has come up at Karnataka’s Vijayanagar, enabling it to achieve 30.5 mt production and 29.2 mt sales, apart from working on the Dolvi phase-III expansion.
But in addition to volume growth in steel making, JSW is also growing its value-added downstream portfolio. “We are adding a galvanising and galvannealed line for high strength automotive steel. In addition, we are expanding the capacity of cold rolled grain-oriented steel in partnership with JFE from 60,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes. We are also setting up a galvanising and zinc magnesium plant in the West, apart from a new plate mill at Anjar to cater to the defence sector, among others,” Acharya explained.
To deepen backward integration, JSW is also developing three iron ore mines in Karnataka, which will give 4 mt additional iron ore and 3 mines in Goa, apart from a coking coal mine. It has earmarked ₹4,208 crore for mine development and cost saving initiatives. The new project approvals also include a sinter plant in Dolvi to take advantage of the Goa mines. JSW produced 24 mt iron ore from captive mines in FY25.
Demand scenario
Acharya said India’s steel demand is expected to reach 165 mt in FY26, up from 152 mt in FY25, primarily led by government capex, which could not fully play out last fiscal due to elections at the Centre and the states.
A good monsoon, a rate cut by the central bank and income tax rate moderation would spur consumption and economic activities, according to him. “We see demand coming from the renewable energy sector, passenger and commercial vehicles, appliances, and affordable housing. India is better placed despite the geopolitical tensions,” he said.
Pricing environment
JSW Steel, which managed to increase EBIDTA by ₹872 crore quarter-on-quarter in Q4, is looking at a better FY26. Steel prices have already risen by ₹3,250 a tonne after the Centre imposed a provisional safeguard duty of 12 per cent on imported steel. Moreover, cost of coking coal, a key raw material, is expected to be lower by $15 a tonne in Q1. Additionally, the 1 GW renewable power capacity will be fully operational, bringing down the cost of operations.
Acharya said he expected the overseas operations in the US and Italy to contribute positively to the EBITDA. It expects a better pricing environment in the US and also in Europe. In Italy, it is expecting rail orders to flow in, which will support the business.
