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– Sushanta Patronobish

Facing competition: The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, addressing a press conference after the ground breaking ceremony of JSW Bengal Steel’s plant at Salboni, in West Bengal on Sunday. Also seen are the Union Steel Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan (right), and the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Steel Ltd, Mr Sajjan Jindal.

Santanu Sanyal

Salboni (West Bengal), Nov. 2 The Union Government is mulling further rationalisation of duty, covering both counterveiling and import duty, as a means to provide relief to the country’s steel industry.

This was stated by the Union Steel Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, while speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of JSW Bengal Steel Ltd, being promoted by JSW Steel Ltd.

“We’ve already announced some relief measures for the steel industry and are examining what more can be done,” Mr Paswan said pointing out that the country’s steel industry, braving various odds, was forging ahead and would become by 2015 the world’s second largest producer of steel after China.

Both Mr Paswan and the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was also present at the ceremony, made an impassioned plea for a national policy on iron ore.

In the absence of such a policy, Mr Bhattacharjee pointed out, there was now a free for all, with iron ore producing States doing whatever they liked in regard to allocation of ore.

“This must stop and rational ore distribution policy must be formulated if the country is to compete with China as a major steel producing nation,” he observed.

Mr Paswan pointed out that the country had about 29 billion tonnes of ore reserves, of which an estimated three to four billion tonnes were in Jharkhand alone and yet the public sector Steel Authority of India Ltd was finding it hard to get allocation of ore for its proposed 19-million-tpa plant in the State. The genuine requirements of the domestic steel producers, he emphasised, must be met first before encouraging exports of ore.

Mr Paswan, who also holds the portfolio of chemicals and fertilisers, indicated that West Bengal had been shortlisted as one of the three States, the two others being Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, for the development of PCPIR (petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals industrial region).

A high-powered committee would soon firm up its views on this for consideration of the Union Cabinet. Also, as he pointed out, bids would be invited soon from private firms for forming joint ventures for the revival and reopening of West Bengal’s two closed state-owned fertiliser factories at Haldia and Durgapur.

Mr Paswan’s pilot car met with an accident but he was unhurt. Reports suggested that there was a mine blast on the route.The Union Minister of State for Steel, Mr Jatin Prasada, said steps had been initiated to boost the country’s steel production to 124 million tonnes by 2011-12 and Jindal’s steel plant in West Bengal would contribute significantly to it. The steel industry’s contribution to the country’s capital formation increased from four per cent in 1991 to eight per cent in 2008, he added.

Mr Sajjan Jindal, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director of JSW Steel, said the company’s steel project proposed to be launched here had been rescheduled. The pelletisation and beneficiation plants would be set up first, to be followed by a three-million-tonne steel by 2012.

The steel making capacity would be further augmented to six mt by 2015 and finally to 10 mt by 2020. It would be the country’s most modern steel complex to complete with power utility and other facilities, costing a total of Rs 35,000 crore.

“We’ve taken every care so that the process of land acquisition could be completed without tears and we’ve succeeded in our mission and we will provide job to one member of each family whose land has been acquired and we’re arranging for their training,” he said. “We’ll also set up social infrastructure like schools and hospitals in the region”.

More Stories on : New Projects | Steel | Policy | West Bengal

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