Steel projects in Odisha reeling under raw material crunch can hope for a better scenario in the future with the Union steel ministry batting for assured iron ore linkages for them.
"The main concern today is firm allocation and linkage of iron ore for the steel units. We at the Government of India are keen that quantity linkages must be ensured for the steel projects that are coming up in Odisha," said Union steel secretary R K Singh.
"As far as prices are concerned, ideally, we would like the market forces to determine the prices," he added.
"We have come up with very satisfactory and encouraging conclusions. The public sector and private players are very enthused on the assurances that they have got from the government," said he.
Singh along with the state chief secretary G C Pati took stock of pending issues of 14 steel players, both in public and private sectors. The projects of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Bhushan Steel Ltd, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Tata Steel, Essar Steel, Uttam Galva Steel, Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd, Visa Steel Ltd, Jindal Stainless Ltd, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), Odisha Minerals Development Company (OMDC), Birmitrapur Limestone and Dolomite Mines and MSTC Ltd were discussed at the meeting.
The steel secretary said, steel production in the country was targeted at 300 million tonne by 2025. In Odisha, he said, two sites have been identified tentatively for setting up two large steel mills, each with capacity of 5-6 million tonne.
NMDC has already submitted a draft tripartite memorandum of agreement to the Odisha government for the large steel plant. The state government has given in-principle approval for formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) by NMDC with Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco). On e-auction of bulk minerals proposed by MSTC Ltd, Singh said, "That is a commercial decision between the state government, MSTC and other commercial entities. The state government has indicated that it would like more platforms for e-auction."
