JSW Steel has formed an equal joint venture with JFE of Japan for manufacturing electrical steel in India.
In a media release, JSW Steel Ltd said that the new joint venture to be named “JSW JFE Electricals Steel Pvt Ltd” will have 50:50 equity holding of JSW Steel and Japan-based JFE Steel Corporation.
The JV will have its manufacturing base in Bellary district, Karnataka and will be set up with a planned investment of Rs.5,500 crore.
A groundbreaking ceremony marking the initiation of this significant partnership was held on February 12, 2024. The facility is targeting to commence production in the fiscal year 2027 and plans to further expand its capacity to meet the growing market demand for grain-oriented electrical steel in India, the release said.
This collaboration is a milestone development, as it would be the first company to have end-to-end manufacturing of grain oriented electrical steel products in India. The JV Company aspires to cater to the surging domestic demand for Grain Oriented Electrical Steel and contribute significantly to the country’s energy infrastructure.
Grain-oriented electrical steel plays a pivotal role in the production of energy-efficient transformers. Whether in laminated, wound, or punched sheet form, it serves as the essential core material for distribution transformers, power transformers, and small transformers.
The leadership teams of both companies including Mr. Kitano, President & CEO of JFE Steel; Mr. Ogawa, Executive Vice President of JFE Steel; Sajjan Jindal, Chairman & Managing Director of JSW Steel; and Jayant Acharya, Joint Managing Director & CEO of JSW Steel and other senior executives attended the event, the release noted.
The JSW-JFE association
According to information available with T&D India, in May 2021, JSW Steel and JFE had signed an MoU to conduct a feasibility study of a potential local manufacturing facility for grain-oriented steel in India. Grain-oriented electrical steel is popularly known as cold-rolled grain-oriented steel or CRGO steel or simply CRGO.
In 2009, the two companies had signed a a comprehensive strategic collaboration agreement under which JFE Steel took equity stake in JSW Steel, and provided technical cooperation with regard to automotive steel products.
Later, in 2012, JSW and JFE entered into an agreement where JFE provided technology for the production of non-oriented electrical steel sheets, which enabled JSW to become India’s leading supplier in this field. Non-oriented electrical steel is also known as cold-rolled non-grain oriented steel or simply CRNGO.
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Featured photograph shows (left) Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Steel and (right) Yoshihisa Kitano, President, JFE steel, at the ground-breaking ceremony of JSW JFE Electric Steel Pvt Ltd, at Bellary, Karnataka, on February 12, 2024. (Photo: JFE Steel)
