Three major steel players ArcelorMittal, Essar Steel and Uttam Galva Steel who have proposed mega steel projects in Orissa are proceeding at very sluggish pace in terms of acquisition of land and investments made at the ground level.
ArcelorMittal's proposed 12 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel plant to be set up at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore, one of the big ticket investments in the state, has been a non-starter so far. The world's largest steel maker which planned to set up its plant spread over 7000 acres of land at Patana in Keonjhar district has been unable t acquire even a single acre of land.
“ArcelorMittal has been extremely slow on its Orissa project. The company is yet to submit its detailed project report and has not acquired any land. Similarly, Essar Steel has acquired only 200 out of 2500 acres needed for its six mtpa steel plant”, state steel and mines secretary, Manoj Ahuja said after reviewing the progress of the steel projects in the state.
Even though Essar Steel claims that it has invested Rs 5,000 crore out of Rs 10,000 crore needed for the project, its claim is suspect as the company has not made any significant headway in land acquisition, he added.
Uttam Galva which is setting up a three mtpa steel plant at Duburi in Jajpur district has acquired only 300 out of 2000 acres needed for its project. The company is also lagging in terms of actual investment made at the ground level as only Rs 60 crore has been invested out of the total project cost of around Rs 8000 crore.
Both ArcelorMittal and Uttam Galva Steel had inked MoUs with the Orissa government in 2006.
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The state steel and mines department today reviewed the progress of 23 steel projects in the state. These include Posco India, AcelorMittal, Essar Steel, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) Bhushan Steel, Uttam Galva Steel, Welspun Power & Steel Limited, Sree Metalliks and Brahmani Rivers and Pellets Limited to name a few.
On Saturday, the steel and mines department will review the status of 24 steel projects prominent among which are Visa Steel, JSL Limited (formerly Jindal Stainless Limited), Monnet Ispat & Energy Limited, Rungta Mines Limited and Aarti Steel Limited. Ahuja said that projects like Tata Steel, JSPL, Brahmani Rivers and Pellets Limited and Bhushan Steel have made good progress.
“Tata Steel has already acquired around 3000 acres out of 3500 acres required for its six mtpa greenfield steel plant at Kalinganagar and around Rs 1300 crore of investment for this project has been grounded. JSPL has already invested Rs 8,500 crore for its six mtpa steel plant and has taken possession of 3,700 acres out of 5,700 acres needed for its project”, Ahuja stated.
Rajesh K Jha, executive director (projects), JSPL said, “We have already invested about Rs 10,000 crore so far on our integrated steel and power complex at Angul and aim to invest Rs 12,000 crore more in the next couple of years. JSPL will commission its plate mill this year while the SMS (Steel Melting Shop) is expected to be operational next year.”