Sajjan Jindal led JSW Steel has surmounted a major roadblock in the trail to setting up a mega steel plant off the coast of Paradip in Odisha.
The Forest Approval Committee (FAC) during its meeting last week has recommended the transfer of forestry clearance from Posco India to JSW Steel. Since the JSW steel project of 13.2 million tonne capacity is coming up on the patch of land originally acquired for the Posco project, the forest approval could be transferred just as the land transfer was effected.
The FAC has cited that there have been instances of transfer of forest clearances in case of a string of coal and iron ore mines to facilitate seamless ownership change and ensure continuity in operations. The committee’s recommendations are likely to be accepted by the Ministry of environment, forest & climate change (MoEFCC).
Out of 2,700 acres taken possession of by the state government owned Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), around 1,200 acres is delineated as forest land on government records.
JSW Steel has pledged an investment of Rs 55,000 crore on the steel project and associated facilities. The steel plant is expected to go on stream in four years from zero date and when fully operational, it will create jobs for around 50,000 people. To optimise raw material costs, JSW Steel has committed an investment of Rs 3,700 crore on a slurry pipeline for transporting 30 million tonnes of iron ore each year from Joda to Paradip. Both the projects have been approved by the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA), the highest body to clear investments.
To secure iron ore supplies for its integrated steel project, the company has pitched for a long-term agreement for 50 years with state owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to supply 30 million tonne per annum of iron ore fines at IBM (Indian Bureau of Mines) declared price.
Leave a Reply