Shyam Sundar Beriwala (right) with Lalit Beriwala in Calcutta on Wednesday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, Feb. 13: Calcutta-based Shyam Steel Industries Ltd is planning to set up two integrated steel plants in the state at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore.

The company signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation last week for steel plants with total capacity of 1.7 million tonnes (mt) and a 225MW power unit.

Shyam Steel had received the state government’s approval before the latter decided not to accept any fresh proposals until existing projects were completed.

Bengal has signed 13 MoAs — involving over Rs 1,00,000 crore investment — committing itself to provide land, coal block and water.

Shyam Steel’s demand for land was moderate compared with some others, who sought far bigger plots. The company wants a 1,200-acre plot at Raghunathpur, Purulia, and 650 acres in Kharagpur .

Shyam Sunder Beriwala, chairman and managing director of Shyam Steel, said the company would build a 1.1-mt plant at Raghunathpur. The unit in Kharagpur will have capacity of 0.6 mt. MN Dastoor has been appointed technical consultant for the plants.

Both the plants will use iron ore fines from Orissa and Jharkhand.

“We have chosen the locations considering the rail connectivity from the two states to the plants,” Beriwala said.

The company expects the state government to provide the Andal (East) coal block for the proposed plants which are in a joint venture with West Bengal Mineral and Trading Development Corporation.

Shyam Steel director Lalit Beriwala said the company had applied for iron ore mine blocks in other states, too.