JSW Steel-JFE JV: ₹32,000 cr Odisha expansion by 2026

The planned signing on April 24

JSW Steel is set to sign a new joint venture agreement with Japan’s JFE Steel Corporation on April 24 for an expansion of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd (BPSL) in Odisha’s Sambalpur district. Official sources said the partnership will be structured as a 50:50 venture. The signing is expected at an event called ‘Forging Ahead’ at Thelkoloi in Sambalpur. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is expected to attend, along with Japanese Ambassador to India Keiichi Ono. JFE Steel president and chief executive officer Masayuki Hirose is also listed among attendees, along with senior officials and representatives of both companies. The deal follows days after JSW formalised another 50:50 JV with South Korean steel major POSCO Group for a 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) integrated steel plant in Dhenkanal.

What the JV targets at the Sambalpur steelworks

The proposed JV is aimed at expanding the existing integrated steel plant that JSW runs through the former BPSL asset in Sambalpur. Hemant Sharma, additional chief secretary in the Odisha Industries Department, said both partners would share equal investment responsibilities. The expansion is expected to lift total capacity from around 4.5 mtpa to beyond 10 mtpa, according to the official statement carried by Business Standard. Separately, another account of the plan put BPSL’s current capacity at around 4 mtpa and said it would increase to over 10 mtpa, with a focus on advanced steel products. The significance of the project, according to officials, is that it is built around an operating asset rather than a greenfield plant. That reduces the lead time compared with entirely new projects, though the article does not provide a commissioning schedule.

Investment size and how the numbers line up

Different estimates for the expansion outlay appear across the provided reports. One set of official sources put the proposed investment at around ₹32,000 crore for the 6 mtpa expansion plan in Sambalpur. Another description of the April 24 signing said the companies would commit a total of ₹30,000 crore, with ₹15,000 crore from each partner. In addition, sources said JFE Steel is expected to acquire a 50 percent stake amounting to ₹15,750 crore. That ₹15,750 crore figure also appears in multiple places, including an update linked to Competition Commission of India (CCI) clearance. The reporting indicates a 50:50 ownership structure, even where the headline investment totals differ across versions.

Structure: transfer of BPSL operations into a new entity

People familiar with the proposed arrangement said the integrated steel operations of BPSL acquired by JSW Steel are likely to be transferred to a new joint venture entity, referred to as JSW JFE Steel Ltd (provisional name). Another description notes that the steel business of BPSL was to be transferred into JSW Sambalpur Steel Limited, and that JFE’s equity acquisition would be phased to reach a 50:50 ownership structure under JSW Kalinga Steel Limited. Separately, JSW Steel disclosed that it would first transfer the steel business of Bhushan Power and Steel to JSW Sambalpur through a slump sale valued at ₹24,883 crore. The common thread across the updates is that the BPSL steel operations are being ring-fenced into a structure that both companies will jointly own and operate.

Regulatory status: CCI approval and JV completion timeline

The Competition Commission of India has approved a joint venture between JSW Steel and JFE Steel Corp, according to a summary included in the material provided. This approval is presented as a green light for the next phase of expansion at BPSL’s Odisha facility. In addition, JFE Steel’s own update says the companies “completed the establishment of a joint venture” involving BPSL on March 30, 2026. The same note frames the JV as a way to capture steel demand in India and accelerate profitability, while combining JFE’s technology with JSW’s operating strengths. The December 3, 2025 agreement cited by JFE includes JFE’s investment of INR 157.5 billion for transferring the integrated steel facility into the 50:50 JV.

How JSW’s BPSL asset has evolved since the 2019 takeover

JSW Steel acquired the debt-ridden BPSL for ₹19,700 crore in 2019 after the National Company Law Tribunal approved its insolvency resolution plan. Since taking over, JSW has revived the plant and raised crude steel production. The increase cited in the material is from around 2.9 mtpa to nearly 4.5 mtpa. Officials said the new JSW-JFE joint venture assumes significance because it builds on this operating base. The expectation, as stated by Hemant Sharma, is that the expansion will also support employment opportunities, ancillary industries, logistics demand, and downstream manufacturing ecosystems in western Odisha.

What JFE says the JV will produce and where it operates

JFE’s note lists the JV’s location as Sambalpur, Odisha, India, and identifies multiple production and downstream sites. It names Sambalpur Steelworks in Jharsuguda, Odisha, along with downstream manufacturing sites in Kolkata (West Bengal) and Chandigarh (Union Territory). It also references Netrabandha Mine in Koira, Odisha, scheduled to begin operation in 2026. Product types listed include hot-rolled steel coils and sheets, cold-rolled steel coils and sheets, bars, wire rods, and steel pipes. JFE also reported sales revenue of INR 214.4 billion for FY24 (April 2024 to March 2025), which is ₹21,440 crore when expressed in crore units.

Odisha pipeline: POSCO JV, Paradip expansion plan, and other MoUs

The April 24 JV signing is framed as part of a broader pipeline of steel investments in Odisha. JSW recently formalised a 50:50 JV with POSCO Group for a 6 mtpa integrated steel plant in Dhenkanal district. Official sources also said work has gathered pace at Paradip after major clearances and preparatory groundwork, and that an MoU has been signed for eventual expansion of the Paradip complex to 24 mtpa. In January 2025, JSW Steel signed an MoU to establish a 5 mtpa integrated steel plant in Keonjhar with an investment of ₹35,000 crore. Separately, a 6 mtpa steel plant proposed by JSW subsidiary Saffron Resources in Dhenkanal, with an estimated investment of ₹35,000 crore, was approved by the state government earlier this year.

Key facts at a glance

Why the JV matters for investors and the sector

The reporting positions the JSW-JFE structure as a way to combine JSW’s scale and raw material access with JFE’s technological expertise, operational systems, and advanced steelmaking capabilities. For JSW, the Sambalpur expansion sits alongside other large capacity plans in Odisha, including the Paradip expansion MoU and separate plant proposals. For JFE, the JV is described as a third integrated steelworks that adds to its East and West steelworks in Japan, and supports overseas earnings growth. The expansion goal cited by JFE is to increase crude steel capacity to 10 million tons by 2030, with a potential to reach 15 million tons in the future, though this is described as potential rather than a committed target. On the ground, Odisha officials have linked the expansion to job creation and growth in ancillary and logistics activity in western Odisha.

Timeline of key dated events mentioned

Conclusion

JSW Steel’s planned April 24 signing with JFE Steel adds another major overseas partnership to its Odisha expansion pipeline, centred on scaling the Sambalpur steelworks from about 4.5 mtpa to beyond 10 mtpa. The reporting indicates a 50:50 structure, with JFE’s 50 percent stake repeatedly cited at ₹15,750 crore, and total investment estimates ranging from ₹30,000 crore to ₹32,000 crore. The next milestones highlighted in the material are the public signing event in Sambalpur and the execution of the business transfer steps that place the BPSL steel operations into the joint venture structure.