Regulation & Approvals
West Bengal Plans to Reclaim 4,102 Acres From JSW Steel's Idle Salboni Site for Industrial Park
By News Desk ·
Key takeaways
- West Bengal's BJP government plans to take back the bulk of 4,102 acres leased to JSW Bengal Steel at Salboni in Paschim Medinipur.
- Industries minister Tapas Roy met JSW officials, and WBIDC with the Land and Land Reform Department may visit the site to assess unused land.
- The land was leased in 2006 for a 10 MTPA steel plant that was shelved, while a 3.8 MTPA JSW Cement grinding unit now operates on 400-500 acres.
West Bengal's BJP government plans to reclaim the bulk of 4,102 acres of land at JSW Steel's Salboni site in Paschim Medinipur to set up an industrial park, New Indian Express reported on November 15, 2026. The state cites 15 years of idleness as grounds for resumption.
Tapas Roy Meets JSW Officials on Salboni Land
Industries and commerce department minister Tapas Roy held a meeting with JSW officials in the presence of Vandana Yadav, additional chief secretary of the department and managing director of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, to discuss resumption of unused land from JSW Bengal Steel Limited. The WBIDC, along with the Land and Land Reform Department, may visit the Salboni site to take stock of the unused land. Yadav declined to comment when the newspaper contacted her.
Department sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the state is receiving many requests for industrial land but cannot offer suitable plots, and that a large part of the Salboni site has lain unused for years. The sources said transferring land to a purpose other than the originally conceived project is a deviation, and that keeping it idle for 15 years is sufficient ground for resumption.
JSW Bengal Steel, a subsidiary of JSW Steel, was leased 4,101 acres at Salboni in 2006 under Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya for a 10 million tonne per annum integrated steel plant. The project was shelved after the company could not secure iron ore linkage from Odisha and the Supreme Court cancelled coal blocks in 2014. In 2023, then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at a rally in Salboni that the Jindals would return a chunk of the unutilised plot: "We would set up a new industry on that stretch."
JSW Steel's Capacity and Odisha Projects
JSW Steel is India's largest domestic steelmaker, with 37.9 MTPA of combined crude steel capacity across Indian and international operations and a planned target of 54.8 MTPA by 2030, according to akta.pro company records. The same records list a 50:50 joint venture with POSCO Holdings for a 6 MTPA greenfield plant in Dhenkanal, Odisha, and construction of a 13.2 MTPA greenfield integrated steel plant at Paradeep, Odisha, at an investment of approximately ₹65,000 crore.
Earlier JSW Steel Expansion Moves
On November 6, 2026, JSW Steel's board approved a 5-million-tonne-per-year expansion and upgrade at its Sambalpur facility in Odisha through the JSW JFE Steel joint venture, Shanghai Metals Market reported. On October 28, 2026, SMS Group was awarded a contract to supply a 5.75 MTPA sinter plant for JSW Utkal Steel's 13.2 MTPA integrated steel complex in Odisha, Construction World reported. JSW Cement, part of the JSW Group, announced a 3.8 MTPA cement grinding unit at Salboni in 2015; the unit is operational across 400-500 acres.
What Comes Next at Salboni
The WBIDC and the Land and Land Reform Department may visit the Salboni site to assess the unused land, and sources said JSW Group has proposed two thermal power plants of 800 MW on a plot there.