The Steel Ministry has asked its coal counterpart to expedite the process to grant approval to the mining plan of a block in Jharkhand alloted to steel giant ArcelorMittal for its proposed Rs 50,000-crore plant.
The development comes in the wake of a meeting of a high-level panel to address roadblocks impeding mega investments in the steel sector.
The world’s largest steelmaker has plans to set up 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel plant in Jharkhand at an estimated investment of Rs 50,000 crore. The proposal is stuck for over eight years now for want of regulatory clearances and land acquisition.
“Steel Secretary G Mohan Kumar has asked the Coal Ministry to expedite the matter of approval of mining plan for Seregarha coal block of ArcelorMittal,” a Steel Ministry official said.
According to the official, in the Inter—Ministerial Group’s (IMG) meeting to fast—track mega investments in the steel sector last month, Coal Ministry representatives said the issue was being examined by a committee.
In July last year, ArcelorMittal had scrapped its proposed Rs 50,000 crore Odisha project, tipped as one of the biggest foreign investment proposals, due to inordinate problems in acquiring land and securing iron ore linkages.
The steel giant had, however, said that it continued to pursue Jharkhand and Karnataka projects with progress on land acquisition and raw material security front.
“In India, the company continues to pursue its greenfield projects in Jharkhand and Karnataka. In Karnataka, the Government has transferred 2,660 acres of private land in the company’s name. In Jharkhand, land acquisition is through the State Government under the consent award scheme. Requisite consent from villagers has been received,” the company had recently said.
It has completed exploration work at the Seregarha coal block and has applied to the Government of Jharkhand for a mining lease and for final approval by the Coal Ministry.
Unable to make much progress in Jharkhand, it has already sought Centre’s help in expediting mining lease grant.
The company had entered into a pact with Jharkhand Government in 2005 for setting up a 12 MTPA steel plant.
While the Centre had given its approval to the State Government’s proposal for granting prospecting licence to ArcelorMittal over 662.95 hectares of land in Karampada region in 2010, which have estimated iron ore reserves of 200 million tonnes, the steel maker has been facing delays in land acquisition and regulatory hurdles to launch the venture.
Faced with opposition from villagers from the Khunti, Gumla areas, where the plant was proposed initially, the company is making efforts to acquire land at Petarwar in Bokaro district in the state.
The company has also raised the issue of extremist problems in the state.