Odisha which is already a mineral-rich state is aspiring to become a manufacturing hub in India with downstream metal industries. The state plans to have incremental steel capacity of 56 MnT in next few years taking its overall production level to 100 MnT by 2030.
As per the latest reports, in a letter to Centre from Odisha government seeking relaxation of area limits for mining leases of iron ore, it has been stated that at present the state has total installed capacity of 33 MnT per annum with a commitment for another 56 MnT over next few years as major steel producers, SAIL, Tata Steel, and JSPL have plans for the expansion of their installed capacities.
The steel industry in Odisha has seen as many as 45 firms sign MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government for steel projects and 33 other companies are working on steel plants. Of these, 10 projects are in the implementation stage with a committed capacity of 13.13 MnT per annum and are likely to be commissioned soon. The remaining steel plants have been already commissioned with an installed capacity of 25.7 MnT per annum and a committed capacity of 47.84 MnT per annum.
In case of steel biggies, JSW Steel has been given green signal by the Odisha government for setting up 12 MTPA green-field plant in the state after 2020, while Tata Steel plans to add capacity of 5 MnT in its Kalinganagr plant over next four years. Other steel players JSPL’s Angul plant and SAIL’s Rourkela steel plant are also in the process of ramping up their capacities in next few years.
The Odisha government says that the upcoming steel projects in state requires additional area under mining lease to have assured supply of iron ore, the key raw material for steel making and thus it has appealed to the Central government to raise the limit for the area held by an iron ore mine lessee from 10 sq kms to 75 sq kms.
In order to promote industrial development, the Odisha government has developed investment regions and industrial parks, including Kalinganagar National Investment and Manufacturing Zone, Downstream Aluminium Park, and Downstream Steel Plark at Angul and Stainless Steel Park at Kalinganagar.
With the country’s economy expected to grow rapidly in near future, the requirement of value-added products will multiply thus offering a good potential for downstream development in state’s steel sector. As per the industry reports, Odisha has progressive and industry-friendly policies because of which the ease of doing business in the state is quite high.
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