Kolkata, Oct 26 The Rs. 2,500-crore Jai Balaji Group is hopeful that the project work for its proposed five-million-tonne steel plant in Purulia district in West Bengal will start in three to six months.

The company has acquired 1,100 acres for the first phase of the steel plant from West Bengal Industrial Development Corp. The total project will require an area of 3,600 acres.

"The first phase will have two-million-tonne metallics, a 400 MW captive power plant and a plant with one-million-tonne cement grinding capacity," Aditya Jajodia, chairman-cum-managing director of the group, told reporters.

The total investment required for the first phase is around Rs. 2,700 crore.

"We would invest in a debt equity ratio of 1:1 for which we need to raise Rs. 1,300 crore of debt," Jajodia said.

The company is expecting that the project work will be completed in 26 months and the production can start after that.

Once complete, the project will have a five-million-tonne integrated steel plant, a three-million-tonne cement plant and a 1,215-MW captive power plant.

The financial closure for the first phase will be done in six months, Jajodia said, adding that the company is yet to get environmental clearance.

Jai Balaji Industries, the flagship company of Jai Balaji Group, has raised Rs. 198.5 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) of shares.

"The funds raised will be utilised for completion of its ductile iron pipe plant and coke oven plant at Durgapur in West Bengal and for development of mines allocated to the company," Jajodia said. (IANS)