JSW Steel announced on May 22 that it has reached an in-principle agreement with JFE Steel to form a 50:50 joint venture company (JV) in India to manufacture cold-rolled grain-oriented (CRGO) electrical steel.

The agreement comes after a two-year wait. In May 2021, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct a joint feasibility study.

"The feasibility study has since been completed, and JSW Steel and JFE Steel have agreed in principle to form a 50:50 joint venture company." JSW Steel said in a statement that the JV "will be able to manufacture the entire range of CRGO products at its proposed facilities in Vijayanagar, Karnataka, India."

JSW Steel stated that the JV will be the first to manufacture CRGO products in India using its entire manufacturing chain.

JFE Steel has a 15% ownership stake in JSW Steel. JFE Steel signed an agreement with JSW Steel in 2012 to provide technology for the production of non-grain-oriented electrical steel products, allowing JSW to become India's leading supplier in this field. The most recent agreement covers cold-rolled grain-oriented electrical steel.