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Existing steel units should get mines first: Panel

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Tapan Chakravorti Ranchi
Last Updated : Jan 28 2013 | 5:06 PM IST
blic sector".  It added," There are large number of proposals from private sector for setting up new plants and expanding existing capacities. Not all of them can be deprived upon to materialize in a time bound and efficient manner".  The report advised, "It is, therefore, essential to build stringent safeguards into the terms and conditionalities under which such private promoters are afforded the privilege of preferential grant of lease. It is also to be ensured through water tight and legally tenable protocols, that no applicant is able to lock up precious ore reserves by adopting delaying tacties, political maneuvering or legal tangles. Stringent additional penalties should also be stipulated, apart from automatic lapsing of such leases without legal recourse.  The Dang committee said in its report, " In view of the paramount need to take a quantum leap in steel capacity and per capita steel consumption and keeping in mind domestic financial and technology ground realities, there should be no barrier for one or two large foreign entities with proven track record and access to global finance and cutting edge technology to enter the Indian steel scenario through the platform of an Indian public limited company so that the Indian public at large can also share in their prosperity".  It felt such entry would bring in its wake multiplier benefits of latest construction and operating technologies in raw material processing and steel making on the one hand and on the other and lead to deeper integration of Indian steel with the world market place.  The committee report stated, "Such entry should however, limited to only a few large scale projects of, say, minimum 10 mtpa which can be considered of national importance, in order to make a quantum jump in steel production in quantity and quality".  The Dang committee advised special provision for affirmative action to promote at least one major integrated steel plant with all its ancillary and multiplier benefits for location in or near scheduled or tribal areas in keeping with the purpose of article 244 (1) of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.

  

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First Published: Sep 13 2005 | 12:00 AM IST

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