New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) JSW Steel, one of the leading steel makers in the country, will invest Rs.3,000 crore in 2009-10 to expand its production capacity, a top official said here Wednesday.

"We are planning to invest Rs.3,000 crore in the current financial year to expand our production capacity," Sajjan Jindal, vice-chairman and managing director of JSW Steel, told reporters on the sidelines of a business meet.

"The investment will be focused on our new projects in Jharkhand, West Bengal and the Vijayanagar plant (Karnataka)," he added.

According to Jindal, the demand for construction steel will go up in the coming years as the focus will be on the infrastructure development.

"We are very upbeat about the market and are expecting about 50-60 percent rise in the sales," he said, adding that the global slowdown would have "very little impact on the domestic steel and cement market".

In construction sector, the rural and semi urban markets are driving up demand even when metros are sluggish, he added.

The steel major is developing two greenfield projects in West Bengal and Jharkhand that require a total investment of Rs.70,000 crore.