 "Odisha seeks extension of Tata Steel's Gopalpur SEZ")
“We have got the nod of the chief minister’s office regarding extension of Tata Steel’s Gopalpur SEZ. Now, we will send our recommendation to extend the validity of the SEZ till June 17, 2015 to the development commissioner, Falta SEZ,” said a senior official of the state industries department.
Tata Steel is the anchor tenant for the industrial park being developed on 3,500 acres of land at Gopalpur.
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The steel maker had lined up three projects there - a 50,000 tonne per annum ferroalloys plant, 4,00,000 tonne per annum steel rebar mill and 1.2 million gallons of water per day desalination plant.
Tata Steel would invest Rs 1,000 crore on these projects which would initially create employment for 1,000 people.
While the ferroalloys plant will cost about Rs 200 to 250 crore, the rebar mill will be set up at an investment of Rs 750 to Rs 800 crore.
For the rebar mill, Tata Steel would procure ingots from Jamshedpur by rail and road. Similarly, the company will source raw material for the ferroalloys plant from its chromite mines in Sukinda valley. It will be a backward integration project for the company’s proposed six million tonne steel plant at Kalinganagar.
In mid-1990s, Tata Steel had acquired 3,700 acres (including 500 acres for the rehabilitation colony) for setting up of a 10 million tonne steel plant at Gopalpur. However, it shelved the project and the land was lying vacant.
The company later proposed to set up an SEZ on this patch of land and got approval from the Centre for the purpose. The industrial park has the potential to attract investments of around Rs 15,000 crore.
The park has attracted downstream investments in sectors like auto components, gems & jewellery, apparel, speciality chemicals, ores and minerals processing, logistics and warehousing and marine food processing.