Peeved over the delay in execution of its various projects in the state, the Orissa government has asked Welspun Power and Steel Ltd to provide information on milestones it has achieved in this regard.
The company proposed to set up a 5 million tonne iron ore beneficiation unit at Nayagarh in the district of Keonjhar and a 3 million tonne pelletisation unit at Dhamra with a combined investment of about Rs 8000 crore.
The government action follows the failure of the company to attend the review meeting taken by the state steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty and subsequent meeting of the Task Force constituted at Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) under the chairmanship of state industry secretary.
“We have asked Welspun Power and Steel to give milestones on various projects being implemented by it in the state”, industry secretary, Saurabh Garg told Business Standard.
Sources said, the issue of delay by the company in the implementation of the projects was discussed in the review meeting chaired by the steel and mines minister. Following the absence of the company in the review meeting, it was asked to be present in the meeting of the Task Force which was scheduled on 24 October, 2009. Simultaneously, the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd. (Ipicol) was asked to examine the possibility of canceling the MoU with the company for its non-committal attitude pertaining to implementation of the projects.
In a parallel move, Ipicol also requested Idco, the land acquisition arm of the Orissa government, to keep on hold the land acquisition process for the company.
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Ipicol had called the company for discussion on the slow progress of the projects following which its representatives met Ipicol chairman-managing director (CMD), Suresh Chandra Patnaik, recently.
They explained about their failure to attend the earlier review meetings and requested that their proposal for setting up of a 5 million tonne per annum iron ore beneficiation plant at Tangi may not be canceled.
It may be noted, the proposal of the company for setting up a 5 million tonne per annum iron ore beneficiation plant and 3 million tonne per annum pelletisation plant at Dhamara was given in principle clearance by the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) meeting held on 3 June 2008.
The company had initially received approval for setting up of a 3 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel plant at Tangi at an investment of Rs 6103.8 crore and later added the proposals to set up a iron ore beneficiation and 3 MTPA pelletisation plant at Dhamra, entailing an additional investment of Rs 1830 crore, to its list of projects in the state.
Meanwhile, the company has made substantial headway in the land acquisition for pelletisation unit at Dhamara. Though no private land has been acquired through state owned Idco, the company has acquired more than 180 acres land in Chandbali tehsil at its own initiative.