Toshiba JSW Turbine and Generator Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between JSW Energy and Japan-based Toshiba Corporation has planned Rs 800-crore plant at Ennore near Chennai.

The deputy Chief Minster of Tamil Nadu laid the foundation stone on Monday. The plant near the southern city will manufacture super-critical steam turbines and generators for thermal power plants in India.

The Managing Director of the joint venture, Itaru Ishibashi said that the venture partners would invest around Rs 800 crore in the project during the next five years. The plant under Phase I of production will make steam turbine and generator parts. This phase is expected to commence in January 2011.

The plant would start manufacturing steam turbine and generator sets by the year 2012 and will achieve a production capacity of 3,000 mega watt per annum by 2014. The plant will manufacture medium to large sized steam turbines and generators ranging from 500 Mw to 1,000 Mw.

The Toshiba group is expected to bring super critical, super precision machining and super large-sized fabrication technology to India through this joint venture. The venture has a capital of Rs 220 crore.

It plans to employ 500 people by 2014 and it has already sent 80 recruits to Japan in order to improve their technical skills.

Toshiba group will hold a 75 per cent in the venture while JSW Energy will have 20% and the remaining 5% will be with JSW Steel. The Japanese company's production facility in Yokohama, Keihin operators will help in setting up of the plant. The sales of the joint venture are expected at $400 million by the end of 2015. The venture was set up in September 2008.

In another development, The Toshiba Corporation Power Systems Company has entered into an agreement with TATA power to set up two unit power plant of 500MW capacity each in Mundra in Gujarat.