Bizodisha Bureau, June 13, 2015 :

The Odisha government is mulling over a proposal by the state-owned Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) for setting up a six million ton steel plant in iron rich Keonjhar district.

Earlier the steel giant, ArcelorMittal had proposed a 12-million-tonne steel plant project at an investment of Rs 40,000 crore at Keonjhar, but the project made very little progress due to land acquisition problems. In 2013, the top steelmaker scrapped its Odisha project citing weak economic conditions and difficulties in getting land and mines to push forward the project.

However, the hopes of having a steel plant in Keonjhar district is being revived with partnership of state and central government and their agencies, officials said here.

RINL chairman and managing director, P. Madhusudan told media persons ast Kolkata on Saturday it is in advanced stages of talks with Odisha government for signing an agreement to set up an ultra mega steel plant.

He indicated formation of two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) be set up on a centre-state partnership model in states which have iron ore deposits.

One SPV will look after the mining needs, with the other ensuring development of proper infrastructure to set up steel plants. The mining SPV in the state may comprise Odisha Mining Corporation, NMDC and RINL.

Similarly, the second SPV to facilitate the steel plant could be a collaborative venture between NMDC, RINL and the state owned Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd.

The central government has identified two sites in Odisha’s iron-ore rich Keonjhar district to build steel mills, each with a capacity of 5-6 million ton per annum (mtpa) in the first phase.

These mills, named as the ultra mega steel plants, are planned to help meet the ambitious domestic steel output of 300 mtpa by 2025.