The Orissa government has decided to reduce the land requirement of 10 mega steel projects by about 5481 acres.
This is because the combined area required by the mega steel units has now been re-assessed at 33,268.5 acres, which is 16.48 per cent less than the original land requirement of 37,750 acres as envisaged in the MoUs signed with them by the state government.
The state owned Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (Ipicol) had appointed M N Dastur & Co as consultant to prepare a benchmarking report on land requirement of various industries after receiving complains about companies demanding more land than they actually need to put up projects in the state. Based on this benchmarking report, the Ipicol has reassessed the land need of the projects.
The mega units, which have been affected by this process, include Posco India, Jindal Steel and Power, Mittal Steel (India ), Uttam Galva Steels, Sterlite Iron and Steel , Bhushan Steels. On the other hand, there is no cut in the land requirement of 4 mega units namely Essar Steel Orissa (2500 acres), SSL Energy (2000 acres), Tata Steel (3500), Welspun Power and Steel (2200 acres). Out of the total land requirement, these steel companies have already applied for allotment of 32,034.9 acres so far, sources added.
Posco India, a subsidiary of the South Korean steel major Posco, had asked for 6000 acres in the MoU signed with the state government in 2005 for its proposed 12 million tonne per annum greenfield integrated steel project near Paradeep in the Jagatsinghpur district.
Ipicol, basing on Dastur & Co report, has reassessed the land requirement at 5525 acres. The company has so far applied for 5151 acres to the government. While the state government has allotted 516 acres of government land to Posco, the company has already invested Rs 175.5 crore.
More From This Section
Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, setting up a 6 million tonne per annum steel project at Kerajang, needed about 5750 acres as per the MoU. Its land size has been reduced to 3843.5 acres by Ipicol. The company had applied to the Orissa government for 4027 acres and 1719 acres have been allotted to it. This includes 687.93 acres of government land and 1031.85 acres of private land. It has invested about Rs 765.46 crore for this project so far.
The land requirement of Arcelor-Mittal planning to set up a 12 million tonne greenfield steel project at Patna tehsil in Keonjhar district has been reassessed at 7750 acres compared to 8000 acres demanded in the MoU. The company has applied the state government to allot 7770 acres and has already invested about Rs 50 crore for the project.
Similarly, the land requirement of Uttam Galva Steels, setting up a 3 million tonne steel project at Bistapal has been reduced by 250 acres. While the MoU provided for allotment of 2400 acres, Ipicol has reassessed the land requirement at 2150 acres. It has applied for 2146 acres of land to the state government and has so far been allotted 27.81 acres. The company has already invested about Rs 35 crores for the project.
The 3 million tonne steel project planned by the Sterlite Iron and Steel at Palasponga, will have to manage with 1000 acres less land than what was provided in the MoU. The company’s land requirement has been re-assessed at 2400 acres instead of 3400 acres earlier. Though the company has applied for 3378 acres to the state government , it has not been allotted any land so far. It has invested about Rs 20 crore for its Orissa project.
Besides, the land requirement for Bhushan Steel setting up a 6 million tonne per annum steel project at Meramundali in Dhenkanal district has been axed by 600 acres. Though the company was to be provided 2000 acres as per the MoU, Ipicol has reassessed the land requirement at 1400 acres. Bhushan Steel has applied the state government for 1994 acres and has been allotted 1620 acres. It has already invested Rs 5000 crore for the project.