Ranchi, April 14: A 0.6 MTPA wire rod mill set up by Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) will be inaugurated by Union steel minister Virbhadra Singh at Patratu on April 24, making it the first steel plant to come up in Jharkhand in the last six years that has seen 50 other steel majors sign MoUs with the state.

This would be the first phase of commissioning of a steel project in the state by JSPL, owned by Congress parliamentarian Naveen Jindal. Others waiting in the wings include the likes of ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, Essar Steels and JSW Steels, all struggling to start the groundwork for their proposed projects amid numerous hiccups, availability of land being foremost.

“We started trial run of the wire mill from February 18. This will be followed by a 1 MTPA bar mill expected to start production by October 2010 and a 3 MTPA blast furnace by end-2011,” assistant vice-president of JSPL Avijit Ghosh told The Telegraph.

JSPL was able to acquire over 550 acre ready-to-use land from the ailing Bihar Alloys and Steel Limited which it took over in Balkudra village near Patratu in January 2007.

In the next three years, the company bought another 500 acres from villagers of nearby hamlets who would either directly or indirectly benefit from the project.

JSPL had earlier proposed to set up a 5 MTPA integrated steel mill in the Asanboni area of East Singhbhum. However, the proposed project failed to make any headway.

Of late, the company has been facing resistance from villagers in Dumka and Godda district where JSPL wants to set up two thermal power units with a cumulative capacity of 3,640 MW.

At the April 24 ceremony, Naveen Jindal was expected to be present along with chief minister Shibu Soren.