Chhattisgarh govt to relocate Bastar’s ultra mega steel plant

19 December 2016

Chhattisgarh government has decided to shift the site of its proposed ultra mega steel plant (UMSP), which was supposed to come up in Bastar’s Dilmili village. The plant was a result of joint venture agreement inlvolving the state government, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).

The agreement was signed last year in May but the project has failed to take off even after the lapse of more 18 months. The Dilmili project was part of part of the four UMSPs planned by the NDA government in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

The initial production capacity of all four plants would be 12 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), which would gradually be scaled up to 24 million tonnes per year.

“SAIL is a little slow on the project,” said Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, while adding that the proposal is expected to speed up in the coming days.

Earlier, the Left parties had launched a protest at the project site in Dilmili. The state government has given indications that it may shift the project’s location to Bastar’s Lohandiguda area, where a plot of land remains vacant. The proposed land was previously allotted to Tata Steel for developing a 5.5 mtpa steel plant in the area.

The state government is currently in the process of acquiring around 5,000 acres of land for the UMSP project. A senior district official at Bastar said a state-run agency had been hired to conduct a survey in the plot area and initiate processes of land acquisition. Once the survey is complete, land would be allotted for the UMSP project in Lohandiguda.

Source – BS