Odisha’s biggest integrated steel plant, owned by JSPl, was made operational on Saturday with the commissioning of the country’s largest blast furnace. Inaugurating the state of the art six mtpa steel plant of JSPl, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said it would provide direct employment to around 30,000 people and indirect jobs to many others. Patnaik said “as India looks to reach steel manufacturing capacity of 300 million tons by 2030, I am proud to note that more than 20 per cent of the country's steel shall continue to be produced from our state.” Stating that the state government is committed to provide all support to the steel industry, he said ‘we have added more than 16 mtpa steel making capacity in the state since 2005’. “My Government’s vision is to develop Angul as an economically vibrant, high-ended engineering and manufacturing hub with world-class living and working environment,” Patnaik said. He said the state government was creating an industrial eco-system for enhanced value addition in Odisha.