The Hindu Business Line : Tata Steel's Orissa plant makes a start

Mumbai June 7 Tata Steel is increasing the pace of work at the 6-million-tonne integrated steel plant that is coming up at Kalinganagar in Jaipur district of Orissa.

The steel maker has awarded a Rs 167.76-crore contract for execution of the civil work for the first phase of the steel plant to Hindustan Construction Co (HCC). The contract involves execution of civil works related to key installations at the plant, including the coke oven and raw material handling system.

Construction Work

HCC will be immediately starting mobilisation of equipment at the project site, which it hopes to put in place by October.

HCC plans to begin the actual construction work in December and proposes to complete it within 24 months.

HCC will be pursuing additional contracts for the next phase of work, including structural work, for this project although work contracts are yet to be released by Tata Steel. HCC is also pursuing civil and structural works for Tata Steel's upcoming greenfield integrated steel projects in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as well as expansion projects in the Jamshedpur plantl.

HCC constructed India's first integrated steel plant — the 1-MTPA Bhillai Steel plant — in 1961. Apart from Tata Steel, HCC will service this sector, given the upcoming prospects in the east with projects of POSCO, Arcelor-Mittal and Steel Authority on the anvil, the company said in a release.

Tata Steel had signed a MoU with the Orissa Government in November 2004 to set up a plant at Kalinganagar. As per the MoU, the company was to set up the plant with an investment of Rs 15,400 crore in two modules of three million tonne capacity each. The first module of three million tonnes includes a blast furnace, coke ovens, sinter plant and rolling mills.

Displaced Persons

The project, however, faced some delay with the local tribals protesting against the project and the company encountering problems related to compensation and rehabilitation of the displaced persons. In January last year, a police firing incident at the project site claimed 13 tribal lives.

Now, it appears the project is back on the track, as the Tatas gear up to complete the first phase of the project.