The Chhattisgarh government has put a spanner on the cement plant set up by the Bhilai Jaypee Cement Limited, a joint venture of the Jaypee Associates and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in Durg district.
Even six months of construction works, production could not be started. For the state government had refused to grant permission as the company had allegedly violated norms while constructing structures for the plant.
The cement plant attached to the SAIL's Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) in Durg district aims to produce 2.2 million tonnes of slag-based cement per year. The Jaypee Associates has 74 per cent stake in the JV while remaining 26 per cent will be with SAIL.
The SAIL has assured supply of granulated slag from its BSP blast furnaces for a period of 30 years.
The initial project cost was estimated at Rs 600 crore. After the delay, the same has gone up to Rs 826 crore now. The plant was supposed to go on stream in October 2009. The construction work was completed well in time, but the plant could not go on stream as the district administration and civic authorities refused to give permission, a senior SAIL official said.
The local administration said that the company violated norms while building structures for the plant. "After the matter was brought to our notice, we had issued letter to the company asking not to start production till it got all required clearances," Bhilai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner R S Toppo said.
Toppo said the company had neither taken permission to construct the building nor had diverted the green land for industrial purpose. It even ignored to seek permission from the district administration committee to build high-rise structures, he added.
