Amidst foreign investment worth thousands crores of rupees pending in the steel sector due to land acquisition and other problems, new Steel Secretary Pradeep Kumar Misra today said the government would endeavor to resolve all the problems faced by the industry.
"Foreign investors are welcome. We will work towards finding a solution to problems of foreign investors. We will try to engage all the stakeholders, including tribals, towards finding the solution," Misra, who assumed office on September 1, told PTI.
Misra said his ministry will act as a facilitator for various growth projects in the sector.
"We will try to help the investors by also working with other stakeholders like Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Tribal Affairs Ministry, Ports and Transport," he added.
The steel industry, which has an investment of about Rs 11 lakh crore in the pipeline, faces multiple challenges like green clearances and tribal protests. Delays in allocation of iron ore and coal mines to feed different projects are another stumbling block faced by the industry.
Companies like ArcelorMittal and Posco have been facing land acquisition and other regulatory hurdles to start their projects, which entail an investment of an estimated Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
World's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal had entered into an agreement with Jharkhand government in 2005 and a year later with the Orissa government to set up plants of 12 million tonnes each at a total investment of about Rs 1 lakh crore. Amid tribal protest, ArcelorMittal was forced to relocate the site for its Jharkhand project within the state and is going slow in Orissa.
South Korean Posco had entered into an agreement with Orissa in 2005 for setting up a 12 MTPA plant, but is facing problems in land acquisition. The process was recently stalled by the Environment Ministry, alleging violation of green norms.
After the Prime Minister's Office intervention recently, the Environment Ministry is studying again impact of the land acquisition process by the Orissa government for the Rs 54,000 crore project, billed as the single largest FDI in the country. The steel ministry is hopeful of early clearances to the project.
"We will work towards strong robust steel industry to sustain the accelerating economic growth. By the end of this decade, there will be really strong demand for steel," Misra said.
The steel ministry envisages a production capacity of about 120 million tonnes per annum by 2012, an ambitious target considering the present capacity of about 72 million tonnes only. Further it targets to achieve a production capacity of 240 million tonnes by 2020.