A three-member inter-ministerial panel of the Odisha government has urged Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) to assess annual raw material requirement of industries operating without linkages in the state.
The panel constituted to formulate a policy for offering raw materials to industries on a long-term basis, had its maiden meeting on Monday.
“The ministerial committee had preliminary discussion on raw material needs of local end-use industries. We have asked Ipicol to assess annual raw material requirement of industries operating without linkages. Out of49 MoUs (memorandum of understanding) signed in the steel sector, 30 players have started production on a partial scale,” said steel & mines minister Rajani Kant Singh.
The committee will submit its report by January 30, he added. Prasanna Acharya, finance minister who heads the panel said, “The subsequent meetings of the panel will decide the future course of action.”
The committee’s mandate will be to suggest measures for making iron ore, manganese, bauxite and chrome ore available to the mineral based industries located in the state.
The minerals will be made available in a fair and equitable manner through the Odisha Mining Corporation and other mining lessees.
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Besides, the committee will suggest modalities for making the ore available on a sustained basis to such industries through appropriate long-term ore linkage arrangements. It will also suggest a framework for making the ore available to local industries through a transparent process.
The steel & mines department had received a number of representations from mineral based industries that they are facing shortage of ore required for running their industries.
Scarcity of raw materials had impaired production of some of these industries. The department feared that non-availability of ore for running industries may lead to a situation with adverse socio-economic consequences like unemployment and loss of wages. It is also likely to have an adverse impact on the state's investment climate and industrialization process, thereby hampering the economic growth of the state.