Congress leader and former Minister Niranjan Patnaik has thanked the Union Steel Minister for announcing that the Steel Authority of India (SAIl) will set up a second steel plant in Odisha.
“This is indeed a very good news and the people of Odisha welcome this decision. A second steel plant will promote a new urban centre like Rourkela and create employment opportunities for Odisha’s youth, both in the new steel plant as well as the ancillary industries and commercial activities that the new plant will give rise to,” Patnaik said.
“However, you must also be aware that the present State Government has a very poor track record in project implementation and many projects for which MOUs were signed around 2003 have by now been shelved or grossly delayed. Therefore, the Central Government will have to show a very high-level of involvement and commitment, if a second steel plant of SAIl in Odisha is to be made a reality,” he said in a letter to the Union Minister.
Odisha supplies maximum amount of iron ore and manganese to steel manufacturing in the country from Keonjhar. For the last 50 years people of Keonjhar have demanded that instead of all the iron ore from the district getting exported out of the district, there should be value addition within the district. If an urban centre like Rourkela can be created in Keonjhar and jobs can be provided to the local youths, the face of the district can be transformed.
Many steel producers, including Mittal Steel, had entered into an MoU for setting up a steel plant in Keonjhar at a promised investment of close to Rs30,000 crore, but because of the incompetence of the State Government, they withdrew from the project. This has adversely affected the interest of the district.
The people of this district, many from the Adivasi and Dalit communities, suffer because of environmental degradation as a result of unscientific and illegal mining activities and scant enforcement of environment laws. They also suffer because their roads are taken over by trucks transporting iron ores. But, at the same time, they face abject neglect. There are no job opportunities, very few industries and the education and health infrastructure have lagged behind. It is in this context that Keonjhar both justifies and desperately needs a second steel plant, said Patnaik.