JSPL to double rail manufacturing capacity to 2.2 million tonnes with new Odisha plant

JSPL, the country’s only private rail manufacturer, aims to produce 1.2 million tonnes of rails annually at the new facility, the exchange filing said.

JSPL Managing Director Bimalendra Jha said, “JSPL is actively adding and expanding further rail manufacturing capacity to support the modernization of the Indian rail network.”

The expansion of JSPL is in line with the Government’s “Gati Shakti Yojana” initiative to provide domestically produced import substitution products at competitive prices. Investment details for the project remain undisclosed.

The company did not disclose the amount to be invested in the project.

The existing 1 MTPA capacity Rail Mill at Raigarh, Chhattisgarh produces special rails for applications requiring heavy loads and high speeds. JSPL from its Raigarh Mill supplies 260 meter rails to Indian Railways, Dedicated Freight Corridors and other nationally important projects.

The expansion comes at a time when the Indian Railways is looking to upgrade the track system, to accommodate axle loads of over 25MT and speeds of up to 200 km/h. JSPL’s head-hardened specialty grade rails are used in metro rail, regional rapid transit systems and special projects in challenging terrain.

“Even though India has surplus rail capacity, there are markets abroad that we would like to feed even after meeting India’s requirements,” Jha said.

JSPL shares closed with a slight rise 560 on the National Stock Exchange on Thursday at Rs.

In January, 2019, the Odisha government had approved nine projects, requiring a total investment of 1.53 trillion. Subsequently, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd proposed to set up a 7-MTPA plant at Jagatsinghpur. 38,000 crores.

ArcelorMittal’s proposal is expected to generate employment for over 11,000 people in Odisha, according to a PTI report citing company officials.

Presently, Odisha has 51 steel plants with a production capacity of 33.1 MTPA.