Raj Bhavan replies to industry SOS
Ranchi, Feb. 10: Governor Syed Sibtey Razi has initiated a review of 16 industrial projects, worth over Rs 200,000 crore and sanctified by several MoUs signed in the last three years, after having received an SOS from mega investors seeking his intervention on clearances and other bottlenecks that have slowed down their progress in the politically unstable state of Jharkhand.
As a first step, the state’s industries department will hold a three-day review beginning tomorrow when the status of various mega projects by the likes of ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, JSW Steels, Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), among others, would be assessed.
Deputy director (industry) B.M.L. Das told The Telegraph the review would also include projects of Bhushan Steel and Power Limited, RPG”s Calcutta Electric Supply Company (CESC) —both companies have faced opposition from villagers over land —Adhunik Alloys and Kohinoor Steel.
“The companies are expected to give a detailed presentation about the progress made and problems being faced by them. Officials of allied departments like water resources, revenue and land reforms, mines, electricity (Jharkhand State Electricity Board) will also be present at the meeting,” he said.
JSW Steels Jharkhand Limited CEO R.P. Singh said he was among a few who had requested Sudhir Tripathi, the principal secretary to the governor, to hold such a meeting to expedite the pace of industrialisation in the state.
“We have been allotted iron ore and coal mines, besides water for industrial use to be drawn from the Subernarekha basin. But the process of land acquisition hasn’t started even though we have identified land,” he said.
JSW has finalised Sonahatu in Ranchi district as the proposed site to set up a 10MTPA steel and power plant. In the face of stiff local opposition, the company has also arranged at least two trips for villagers to its Vijayanagar Steel Plant (in Bellary district of Karnataka) and also nearby mining areas to try and gain their confidence.
JSPL assistant vice-president Avijit Ghosh said they, too, were facing land acquisition problems as land records were not up to date. “We will ask the government to update land records. There have been instances when government land has either been encroached upon or allotted in the name of landless families.”
While JSPL has been able to start production at its 6MT BASL unit near Patratu — it got over 600 acres of ready land — its steel and power projects in the Asanboni and Santhal Pargana areas are stuck over land issues.
Almost all the companies have been allotted iron ore mines, but their primary concern was land, with requirements ranging between a few hundred acres to 6,000-8,000 acres. The problem was compounded in the wake of a pending R&R policy which the erstwhile government of Shibu Soren wanted to review and alter after it was finalised by the state cabinet headed by his predecessor Madhu Koda. The R&R policy hadn’t been ratified by the Assembly.
CESC’s senior representative Sanjeev Sengupta said they were hopeful that things would speed up during President’s rule. “As of now, things are not moving at the desired pace. We are really concerned about setting up our 1,000MW thermal power unit in the Kathikund area of Dumka,” he said.
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