Saturday, July 30 2005 13:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Midnapore (WB): Industrialist Sajjan Jindal has said that the group planned to set up a five million tonne capacity steel plant with an investment of nearly Rs 10,000 crore in state's West Midnapore district.

Jindal, who visited the proposed site at Dudhkuri in Jhargram and Indkhara in Sankrail yesterday (July 29, 2005) covering an area of about 5,000 acres, told newsmen that the iron ore for the project would be procured from neighbouring Jharkhand.

Jindal said, he did not envisage any difficulty in procuring the ore from Jharkhand as the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, was the Chairman of the Eastern Region Development Council,

Jindal said the plant would have an initial capacity of 2.5 mt and the foundation stone of the project would be laid within three months of acquiring the land.

Stating that the project, the first of its kind taken up by the group in West Bengal, is expected to be commissioned in 2006, Jindal said, it would provide direct employment to 5,000 people and indirect employment to 15,000 others.

District Magistrate, West Midnapore, Dushmant Nariyala assured the industrialist that the land in question being vested land and barren, he did not envisage any difficulty in making the land available.

Jindal was scheduled to meet the Chief Minister in Kolkata regarding the project.