Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday took fresh guard as an entrepreneur with an announcement in Madrid that he, along with a friend, would set up a steel plant at Salboni in West Midnapore.

The initial investment will be Rs 2,500 crore and the project is slated to create jobs for at least 6,000 people, Ganguly said.

“I have been investing since 2007, along with a friend.... I was playing cricket, but he (the friend) has been basically looking after it. This is going to be the third plant. The first plant was in Asansol, then we set up another in Patna and this one will be in Salboni,” Ganguly told ABP Ananda news channel on the sidelines of an industry meet in the Spanish capital.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee addressed the meeting to scout for Spanish investments in Bengal and invite businesspersons from the country to the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee interacts with Former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, in Spain, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023 File Photo

Ganguly, a speaker at the session, told the audience about the positive investment climate in the state before talking about the opportunities in the small and medium enterprises sector.

“JSW had taken up land for a steel plant, which they did not set up. Now, we will set up an integrated steel plant there.... We will have everything in one place,” added Ganguly while talking to ABP Ananda.

Sources in the administration said that the JSW group had already expressed its willingness to return about 3,500 acres out of the 4,700 acres allotted to the company as it had not set up the proposed 10-million-tonne integrated steel plant for which the land was allotted in 2009-10. The company later scaled down its plan and decided to run a cement grinding unit from there.

Although the process of returning the land is stuck because of some technicalities, transferring land — for the proposed steel plant by Ganguly and his friend — will not be difficult, said a source.

According to Ganguly, the clearances for the plant have already been given by the government — he thanked chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi and industry secretary Vandana Yadav — and construction will be complete in six months.

“The initial investment will be Rs 2,500 crore.... To begin with, it will result in job creation for around 6,000 people and then we will ramp up and another 50 per cent will be added to the workforce,” added Ganguly, whose inclusion in the delegation had raised a few eyebrows even in Nabanna.

That Ganguly’s presence was more than ornamental was clear on Thursday when he played a key role in getting the state government and La Liga authorities to sign an MoU to set up a football academy in Bengal.

The introduction of Ganguly by Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief adviser to the chief minister, at Friday’s programme bore hints that the former Indian cricket captain had more to offer. “From today’s business conference point of view, we can emphasise that he (Ganguly) now inhabits a fine confluence of sports, culture, entertainment, investment and industry,” said Bandyopadhyay.

A source in the delegation told this newspaper that the former Indian cricket captain’s “socialising with the senior government officials” and “time spent with Didi” over the last couple of days provided indications that his visit to Madrid had a purpose.

After the investment meet, Ganguly broke the news of the investment plans, albeit without too many specifics like who his partner is and what his equity participation will be in the project.

The Telegraph later came to know that Captain Steel India Ltd, which manufactures TMT bars, will be the major driver behind the Salboni project that Ganguly announced.

“Sourav is like family. We have been associated with him for years. In the Salboni project, he will be a stakeholder also,” Sanjay Gupta, owner of Captain Steel, told this newspaper in the evening.

Gupta said the new sponge-iron-based plant would manufacture about 1 million tonnes of TMT bars, and that it will be in production within two to three years.

The Captain Steel Group, which also has interests in ferro alloy and real estate, has a turnover of Rs 4,000 crore, Gupta said. Ganguly has been a brand ambassador for Captain TMT bars, which are used in the construction industry, for years.

Captain Steel has sought 600 acres from the government. The land parcel will be enough to make future expansions after meeting present needs. “We will diversify into new products in future,” Gupta added.

Although no official reaction from Mamata -- who met the Bengali diaspora in Madrid after the meeting -- was available on Ganguly’s announcement, a source said that it must have been good news for the chief minister.

“There has been a lot of speculation about Sourav joining the BJP and becoming the face of the party in Bengal.... Now that he is padding up as an entrepreneur in Bengal and also pitching for investments in the state, it is clear that his association with the BJP has ended and he is ready to explore opportunities in the world of business, be it in core industry or in the field of sports, by using his brand,” said a source.

According to the source, he saw a new Ganguly in Madrid. “Sourav’s involvement in the La Liga signing ceremony programme on Thursday caught all the attention.... He sought the microphone a second time and requested La Liga president Javier Tebas to visit Calcutta,” said the source, recounting Sourav’s proactive pitching for the state.