JSW Steel will add 16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of new capacity through joint ventures with Japan’s JFE Steel and Korea’s POSCO, pushing its total output to 80 mtpa by 2032, the company’s CEO Jayant Acharya told livemint.com on 17 May.
The expansion comprises three parallel moves: the ongoing ramp-up at recently-acquired Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL), a downstream electrical-steel JV with JFE Steel that will start production in 2028, and a new 5 mtpa integrated steel plant in Odisha with POSCO that is slated to come on stream in 2030. Acharya said the combined investment across these projects exceeds ₹40,000 crore, with land acquisition for the POSCO site already under way and environmental clearances expected by December 2026.
With the additions, JSW Steel will leapfrog Nucor and ArcelorMittal USA to become the largest steelmaker outside China by installed capacity, according to World Steel Association data cited by livemint.com. Domestic demand is projected to grow at 7-8 % annually through 2032, driven by infrastructure outlays in the Union Budget and the National Infrastructure Pipeline. The company’s current 29 mtpa capacity already commands 19 % of India’s market; the 80 mtpa target would give it roughly the same share of a much larger pie, mirroring ArcelorMittal’s consolidation strategy in Europe during 2004-2012.
Acharya told livemint.com that the first slab from the POSCO JV is scheduled for trial production in March 2030, while the JFE electrical-steel line will begin customer certification in early 2028. Investors should watch for the Odisha site’s final forest clearance in the September quarter and for BPSL’s blast furnace #3 relight, expected by June 2027, both of which are gating items to the 80 mtpa timeline.