Orissa re-looks at land for Arcelor-Mittal

Worried over people's resistance to land acquisition and allegations of land grabbing by industrial houses in the name of setting up industries, the Orissa government plans to ensure realistic assessment of the land needed by various industries.

As part of the process, the government has decided to take a re-look at the land requirement of Arcelor-Mittal for its proposed 12-million-tonne-per-annum steel plant in the Patna tehsil of Keonjhar district. This follows a presentation by the company before the state industry department. The company has applied for 8,000 acres, which includes land for a 750-Mw captive power plant and a township for the employees. However, indications are that the quantum of land allotted will be "reasonable".

"The allotment of land to any company will depend on certain parameters like the project size, the process being adopted and technology," said Industry Secretary Ashok Dalwai.

The extent of land sought must be reasonable and we would see that there was minimum displacement of people, he added.

On the reassessment of land required by Arcelor-Mittal, he said the proposal was being studied and it would take some time to arrive at a decision.

Interestingly, the issue of land also figured in the discussion Arcelor-Mittal's Chief Executive Officer LN Mittal had with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other senior government officials during his recent visit to the state.

The Arcelor-Mittal group signed an MoU with the the Orissa government to set up the plant in December 2006. The estimated investment is about Rs 40,000 crore.

MN Dastur & Company (P) Ltd (Dasturco) is preparing the detailed project report for the project. The report will cover captive mining facilities, captive power supply, water supply infrastructure and other facilities required, including a township for employees.

The company has set up an office in Fortune Towers in Bhubaneswar.