Naveen Jindal forges private steel empire overseas

Naveen Jindal, chairman of India's fourth-largest steelmaker Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), is building a private steel empire abroad, one that could match the size of his listed Indian company in future.

- Nehal Chaliawala

Over the past five years, Jindal has built an end-to-end steel business with assets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This includes mines in Mozambique and Cameroon, steel units in Oman and a downstream value-added steel facility in the Czech Republic. His next target: Italy's Acciaierie d'Italia, the largest steel plant in Europe formerly known as Ilva.

While 10 companies have bid for various assets of the steelmaker, only three have bid for the entire operations. Privately owned Jindal Steel (International), one of the three, is among the favourites to win the bid, an executive familiar with the plans said.

If all goes to plan, Jindal, 54, will helm a 14-million-tonnes-per-annum steel empire through privately owned companies by the end of 2028, Mint calculations showed. By then, publicly listed JSPL is expected to have a steelmaking capacity upwards of 16 mtpa.

Both businesses together would make Naveen Jindal one of the biggest steel czars in the world, alongside Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal and his half-brother Sajjan Jindal, who heads JSW Steel, the largest domestic steelmaker in India.

Detailed queries emailed to a spokesperson of the Jindal Group on Tuesday did not elicit a response by press time Sunday.