The Chhattisgarh government, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) proposed joint venture to start a ultra mega steel plant (UMSP) in Dilmili village, Bastar has already delayed for more than 18 months, and now C.G. govt. has decided to shift the site to Lohandiguda, Bastar.
The agreement was signed in May’15 but the project has failed to take off even after the lapse of more than 18 months. The Dilmili project was part of the four UMSPs planned by the NDA government in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Karnataka.
The initial production capacity of all four plants would be 12 MT pa, which would gradually be scaled up to 24 MT pa.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, said “SAIL is a little slow on the project,” also added that the proposal is expected to speed up in the coming days.
The state government has given indications that it may shift the project’s location to Bastar’s Lohandiguda area, where a plot of land is vacant. The proposed land was previously allotted to Tata Steel for developing a 5.5 MPTA steel plant in the area.
The state government is currently in the process of acquiring around 5,000 acres of land for the UMSP project. A senior district official at Bastar said ‘a state-run agency had been hired to conduct a survey in the plot area and initiate processes of land acquisition. Once the survey is complete, land would be allotted for the UMSP project in Lohandiguda’.
~ Sourced
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