City-based Shyam Metalics & Energy Ltd is going to invest over ₹5,000 crore in Bengal over the next three-five years as part of its national expansion plan to emerge as a metal conglomerate from the East.

Instead of focusing on a single line of business within a diverse metal spectrum, as traditionally pursued by entrepreneurs and corporate houses over the years, Shyam intends to grow in carbon steel, stainless steel as well as aluminium foil — and that too simultaneously.

While a majority of the expansion is going to take place in Bengal’s Jamuria near Asansol and Kharagpur, Shyam will widen its footprints in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh as part of the grand plan which will call for another ₹3,000 crore fresh investment.

“We have a unique business – It is like a FMCG basket of metals – we have carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminium foil, ferro chrome and power (captive). My dream is to make Shyam Metalics a metal conglomerate from the East,” Brij Bhushan Agarwal, vice-chairman and managing director, of the company said.

The company has already invested close to ₹4,500 crore in Bengal in the last two to three years and its bet on the state is going to go up. One of the noteworthy aspects of Shyam’s investment include the revival of Ramsarup Industries, which became sick in the aftermath of the financial crisis of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Shyam acquired the company, which was in shambles, in a joint venture from the bankruptcy court in 2022.

It is now in the process of investing ₹2,000 crore in Kharagpur where Ramsarup’s 350-acre plot plant is located. Apart from building a blast furnace, the plan is to set up a ductile iron (DI) pipe plant there.

The stainless steel expansion is taking shape in Indore where Shyam acquired Mittal Corp, again through bankruptcy court, by outbidding Jindal Stainless, India’s largest manufacturer. Agarwal said the foray into this segment was logical given its portfolio in ferro chrome.

“All the raw material required for stainless steel is available in-house. We have to only buy nickel. There is a lot of synergy already. Stainless is part of the overall business,” Agarwal explained, adding that sustainability is not in question.

Shyam chose Odisha, home to India’s highest alumina reserve, for the aluminium foray, apart from Pakuria in Bengal and Giridih in Jharkhand.

Agarwal said it already is the largest maker of aluminium foil for EV batteries and there is a plan to double it. The company is also entering the B2C segment with foils. While it is buying foil stock from the market at present, Shyam has plans for backwards integration to manufacture in-house from scrap.

Agarwal said he was confident to pursue multiple avenues of growth given India’s growing internal consumption. “There is a clear pathway to growth. I don’t see a risk,” he said.

Shyam Metalics, which has now cranked up market capitalisation in excess of ₹20,000 crore, is hoping that strong internal accrual would be enough to roll the juggernaut and it would not have to leverage dangerously for expansion.