Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, today inaugurated the much-awaited Rs 800 crore cement manufacturing unit of the JSW group at Salboni in West Midnapore and said its commissioning would augur well for investments in the state, ahead of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).

Miss Banerjee also lauded the company for starting the project ahead of its schedule and for providing employment to the poor.

Congratulating JSW group’s top leadership including its chairman Sajjan Jindal, the chief minister said, “JSW is a vibrant industrial group which is doing well in the country. Their presence in Bengal ahead of the BGBS will give a boost to investment in the state and create a strong industrial infrastructure. They are just like our family members. We have to care for our family members. If we don’t care for them, how will the business grow?”

“The initiative of the JSW authority will also create a huge employment opportunity in the state,” she said.

While addressing the gathering, Miss Banerjee appealed to the people to “extend cooperation” to industries and treat businessmen as their “family members” so that industrialists do not face any problem in expanding their business.

“There were perceptions that Bengal is not doing well, but now perceptions have changed”, Miss Banerjee said.

Thanking local villagers and people at Salboni for co-operating with the group to set up its 2.4 MTPA (million tones per annum) cement manufacturing unit, she said, “Please do the same in future also”.

“The Salboni unit supports our nation-building goals. Today’s inaugural function marks a significant milestone for both the JSW group and West Bengal. West Bengal has been a preferred state for setting up one of our biggest cement manufacturing units. We are committed to stay invested in this state and are in fact planning to increase the capacity of our Salboni cement unit to 3.6 MTPA. This will create new employment opportunities and community initiatives at Salboni”, said Mr Path Jindal, managing director JSW group.

Mr Jindal also said, “The Salboni unit’s capacity expansion is part of our goal to achieve an overall production capacity of 20 MTPA by 2020. We thank chief minister Mamata Banerjee for joining us on this momentous day. We take immense pride in dedicating the Salboni cement unit to the economic development of West Bengal.”

The JSW group’s chairman Mr Sajjan Jindal also announced that Salboni Super Speciality Hospital which is under state government’s health department will be taken over by the Jindal group.

The Salboni unit will cater to JSW Cement’s customer requirements in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, northern parts of Orissa and other areas. JSW Cement has commenced despatches of Concreel HD cement from the Salboni unit to eastern markets.

Concreel HD is a unique cement variant innovated by JSW Cement. It is specially designed for concrete-based construction requirements. Concreel HD provides exceptional strength and sets quickly, thereby making it ideal for strength-bearing applications such as beams, columns, slabs and foundations.

The original project, a 10-million-tonne steel plant and 1,600-MW power plant, was conceived in 2007 during the Left Front regime, when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was the chief minister. Around 4,300 acres were allocated, of which JSW purchased 450 acres. The investment was pegged at Rs 350 billion, which is Bengal’s single largest.

However, the global financial crisis and coal block de-allocation stopped the project. After the change in government in 2011, it took time for the project to also settle. In 2016, Miss Banerjee had laid the foundation stone for a cement plant.