Tata's Gopalpur industrial park may house chemicals, export oriented units

Park has so far drawn Rs 1800 crore investments

Tata Steel Special Economic Zone Ltd (TSSEZ) is in advanced talks with two chemicals companies and a 100 per cent export oriented unit to set up facilities at the industrial park at Gopalpur off the coast of south Odisha.

TSSEZ is the developer for the park sprawling over 2900 acres. The industrial park is split into Special Economic Zone (SEZ) notified over 1235 acres and the residual stretch of land designated as the domestic tariff area (DTA).

“The two chemicals industries that we are talking to are eying the DTA area. For the SEZ, we have one 100 per cent export oriented company keen to set up their facility. Investments are gaining steam at our Gopalpur industrial park and we have Rs 1800 crore of proposals. Gopalpur is slowly emerging as an industrial destination of consequence”, said Ashish Mathur, managing director, TSSEZ Ltd.

He said, Odisha has the potential to emerge as the future chemicals hub. “Traditionally, chemicals industries are concentrated in the western zone. Now, those industries are looking eastwards. Odisha has ample raw materials and intermediate products along with the logistics advantage and it can drive the next wave of manufacturing growth”.

After a phase of rut, TSSEZ has succeeded in reviving flow of investments to the Gopalpur industrial park. At the Make in Odisha conclave staged in November 2018, Tata Global Beverages pledged Rs 100 crore investment on a tea packaging unit at the Gopalpur park, generating employment for approximately 650 people when the plant reaches full capacity. The tea packaging plant, which will be operated by a third party operator nominated by TGBL, will cater to the company’s Indian market. The packaging facility is scheduled to be operational by 2020. TGBL is a global beverage business firm. Its brands have presence in over 40 countries. The company has significant interests in tea, coffee and water and is the world’s second largest tea company.

More recently, Hyderabad-based Gemini Edibles & Fats India Pvt Ltd, famed for its Freedom brand of oils, has proposed to install a refined vegetable oil manufacturing unit within the Gopalpur industrial park, developed by Tata Steel Special Economic Zone Ltd, a fully owned Tata Steel subsidiary. The investment is estimated at Rs 300 crore and the plant will be equipped with a capacity of 396,000 tonnes per annum. To finance the project, the company will bank on Rs 150 crore of equity and a matching term loan. The facility will be spread over 25 acres within the DTA of the industrial park.

The Gopalpur industrial park houses a manufacturing unit for aerial targets installed by Sure Safety Solutions in technical collaboration with UK-based Meggitt Defence. In its capacity as the anchor investor, Tata Steel has put up a ferro chrome facility with an annual capacity of 55,000 tonnes per annum at a cost of Rs 541 crore.