KOLKATA (TIP): Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) is planning to invest close to Rs 2,000 crore in setting up two new bar mills. The new mills, each with a capacity of around 1.4 million (mt) tonne, are slated to come up at JSPL’s existing steel making facilities at Angul in Odisha and at Oman. “We have a 1.6 million tonne capacity at present. In three years, we hope to expand capacity to 4.5 mt by setting up two new bar mills. Each of these units is likely to require an investsment of around Rs 900 to Rs 1,000 crore,” V K Mehta, JSPL’s director (marketing) said. Mr Mehta was speaking to reporters at a press meet in the city on the company’s retail plans. “While the bar mill at Oman is due to come up in next 18 months, the one at Angul is likely to come up in 27 months,” he added. The TMT rebar is being produced at the TMT Rebar mill at Patratu in Jharkhand. It has a production capacity of one million tonne per annum (mtpa) and uses Siemens rebar production technology from the US. JSPL announced its foray into steel retail segment in August this year with the launch of a new retail brand. The first product to be launched under this is ‘Jindal Panther TMT Rebars’, a steel product used in building construction. The product will be supported by JSPL’s channel network of 40 distributors and over 1,000 dealers. JSPL is also investing Rs 125 crore in setting up head hardening facilities at its rail making facility at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh The facility is part of JSPL’s move to get ino high value product categories and is expected to be completed by January 2014.