Bhushan Steel is once again in the news for the wrong reasons. The alleged involvement of >Bhushan Steel in the bribery case involving the Syndicate Bank CMD has seen the stock lose 4.5 per cent so far today.
However, this is not the first time that Bhushan Steel has been found violating Government laws. In November last year, the Pollution Control Board (PCB) of Odisha had ordered the closure of Bhushan Steel’s blast furnace-2 at its Meramandali plant, which was operating without the necessary permissions. The closure was ordered after an explosion during the trial run of the blast furnace that resulted in few deaths. The blast furnace has been re-started after receiving clearance from the Odisha PCB in April 2014.
In the past too, there have been mishaps at the plant. As on January 2013, the company had 58 criminal proceedings pending against it for violations of the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948. These related primarily to accidents that had occurred within the company’s facilities.
In December 2013 too, concern over Bhushan Steel’s integrated steel plant in Odisha having been built in contravention of the Forest Conservation Act, saw the State Government approach the Ministry of Environment and Forests to decide on revoking forest clearance to the company. The allegation was that the company had undertaken some construction on non-forest land before getting the requisite clearances.
Bhushan Steel, which started out as a manufacturer of value-added flat steel products, forayed into primary steel making (hot-rolled coils and billets) a few years back. Following the expansion at the Meramandali facility in Odisha, the company’s primary steel-making capacity has gone up from 2.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in 2010-11 to 5.2 mtpa now. The new 3 mtpa capacity is expected to be declared commercial this fiscal.