Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for construction of the JSW steel plant at Dhinkia near Paradip and said the project was aimed to be operational by 2029. He said JSW will invest around Rs 1.25 trillion (Rs 1.25 tn), including Rs 650 billion (Rs 650 bn) for the steel plant and the remainder for associated facilities, creating nearly 32,000 jobs. The facility will have a planned capacity of 13.2 million tonnes per annum (13.2 mn t per annum). Majhi recalled that a 2005 memorandum with South Korean firm POSCO for a 12 million tonnes per annum project ended when the company withdrew in 2017 and the land passed to JSW Utkal Steel Limited. He contrasted the earlier delay of nearly 19 years with the present government initiating construction two years after signing the JSW MoU. Officials said initial plans envisaged work beginning by 2028 after a JSW pellet plant, but major construction has started earlier. Foundation stones were laid for the coke oven, steel melting shop, blast furnace, captive port and sinter plant, which are expected to be operational by 2029. The state will open two engineering colleges in Paradip and Balangir to boost technical training. He referred to a joint venture with Japan's JFE Steel in Jharsuguda, where a Rs 30,000 crore project is under way, equivalent to Rs 300 billion (Rs 300 bn), and said Odisha is preparing a Sister States agreement with Japan's Tottori Prefecture to encourage investment. He also indicated plans for new steel plants in Dhenkanal and Keonjhar. Majhi noted that in the last two years the government approved 433 projects involving investments totalling Rs 8.5 lakh crore, equal to Rs 8.5 trillion (Rs 8.5 tn), and that these approvals are expected to create more than five lakh jobs, or over 0.5 mn jobs. Foundation stones have been laid for 148 projects, projected to generate employment for around 2.37 lakh youths, or 0.237 mn, and several ministers and JSW officials attended the ceremony.