The first phase of the Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL)’s proposed 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa) steel project and 1000 Mw power plant at Angul in Orissa is expected to be commissioned in 2011-12.
The shifting of families to be displaced by the project is going on and simultaneously, the construction of the boundary wall has started. The detail engineering will follow the completion of the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of displaced persons and large scale construction would be taken up after that.
“We plan to start large scale construction work in January next year and the first phase commissioning is scheduled to be in 2011-12”, Rajesh Kumar Jha, executive director, JSPL told Business Standard. He said, out of three villages to be shifted completely for the first phase construction, 2 villages have been rehabilitated completely. The remaining village will be rehabilitated by December this year.
The company’s strategy of combining the project economy with the rehabilitated family’s economy has gone down well with the people. Four to five meetings were held between the villagers and the architect for the design of the buildings in the rehabilitation colony.
Once the rehabilitation process and the construction of the boundary wall are over, detail engineering and plant construction will be taken up.
Official sources said, the company has placed orders for civil and structural works worth Rs 1584.57 crore which is 60 percent of the estimated costs. Similarly, orders for plant and equipment worth Rs 4034.34 crore has been placed which is about 35 percent of the total estimated costs of plant and equipments.
The total cost of the project is Rs 22,420 crore with the first phase investment pegged at Rs 13,000 crore. The project has already attained financial closure and will have a 60:40 debt-equity ratio. While the debt component will be Rs 8,958 crore, the equity is Rs 13,452 crore.
RITES has completed the detail survey of the private railway siding and the contract for its construction has been awarded to Bhubaneswar based ARSS Infrastructure Projects Ltd, which is expected to complete the work by December 2010.
While the company requires 5279 acres for the steel plant, about 3000 acres have been acquired so far. The acquisition of additional 707 acres of private land is likely to be over by the end of this month.
During a recent review of the progress of mega project by the state industry minister, the company urged the government to consider recommendation of prospecting license (PL)/mining lease (ML) for the project as it has achieved the required milestones to be eligible for it. The company had signed MoU with the government for the project in 2005. It has applied for Khandadhar, Malangatoli, Mankadanachha and Khujuridihi mines for issue of PL, sources added.
It may be noted, JSPL will use the coal gasification technology for first phase production of 3 million tonne at its Angul project which is claimed to be most environment friendly and capable of recovering 100 percent sulphur from the gas produced from coal.
