New Delhi, May 1, 2024: Jindal Stainless, India’s leading stainless steel manufacturer, today
announced major expansion and acquisition plans to augment its melting and downstream
capacities, to become one of the largest stainless steel producers in the world. The company
announced a three-pronged investment strategy worth nearly INR 5,400 crores to achieve
global leadership in stainless steel.
Jindal Stainless entered into a joint venture (JV) for developing and operating a stainless steel
melt shop (SMS) in Indonesia with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per
annum (MTPA). This will increase the company’s melting capacity by over 40% to 4.2 MTPA at
an investment of more than INR 700 crore. Secondly, the company also set aside around INR
1,900 crore for the expansion of its downstream lines in Jajpur, Odisha, to be able to process an
increase in melting capacity. Besides, the company earmarked nearly INR 1,450 crore towards
the associated upgradation of infrastructural facilities, such as railway siding, sustainability-
related projects, and renewable energy generation. Thirdly, the company will acquire a 54%
equity stake in Chromeni Steels Private Limited (CSPL), which owns a 0.6 MTPA cold rolling mill
located in Mundra, Gujarat, through a structured indirect acquisition deal. The transactions
entail an outlay of around INR 1,340 crore, comprising a takeover of existing debt of ~INR 1,295
crore and a balance of ~INR 45 crore towards equity purchase.
Addressing a press conference on the landmark decisions approved by the Board of Directors of
Jindal Stainless, Managing Director, Mr Abhyuday Jindal, said, “With these acquisitions and
investments, we have orchestrated a clear growth plan to become one of the leading players in
the world. The Indonesian JV will get us the best of speed and raw material security, and the
augmentation of the Jajpur lines will offer enhanced value for domestic and export customers.
The cold rolling mill at Chromeni will expand our outreach, both in India as well as abroad, and
strengthen our presence in the value-added segment in the long term.”
Speaking on the occasion, CEO & Wholetime Director, Mr Tarun Kumar Khulbe, said,
“Investment in upstream facilities in Indonesia is a plug-and-play model which can be expected
to get operational in the next 24 months given the existing industrial park facilities at the site.
Logistics and power costs render Indonesia even more favourable to such investments. Besides,
the Government of Indonesia has banned the export of nickel ore and is promoting investments
into downstream facilities through long-term tax holidays. The acquisition of Chromeni supports
our strategy to increase cold rolled products in our product mix.”
Adding to this, Executive Director & Group CFO, Mr Anurag Mantri said, “The investment will
especially contribute towards the overall balancing of our downstream cold rolled capacities,
bringing it closer to the global benchmarks. The alternate route of production in Indonesia will
help mitigate raw material risks. We will finance these investments through a combination of
internal accruals and debt, while closely monitoring leverage ratios.”
For the Indonesian SMS, the partner entity is of international repute with extensive experience
in running such projects. The downstream expansion in Jajpur and acquisition of CSPL are
aligned with the Indonesian SMS capacity. This will support the overall facility balancing for
Jindal Stainless at the company level. The improvement in the infrastructural facility will
significantly enhance the efficiency in logistics, needed for catering to increased planned
volumes.