Steel industry stalwarts want to meet Chief Minister

Faced with various problems, magnates of India’s steel industry have again requested for an appointment to meet Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik to apprise him on the challenges presently plaguing the industry. The industry leaders under the banner of the Indian Steel Association (ISA) have been seeking the State Government’s support on various critical issues adversely impacting the Odessa-based steel industries and the linked development of the State

This meeting will be significant because the ISA delegates who had earlier sought an appointment with the Chief Minister in May 2015 could only meet the Chief Secretary on June 4, 2015 and raised various issues faced by the steel companies. At the meeting with the Chief Secretary, the delegates like Tata Steel MD TV Narendran, Jindal Steel & Power ltd Chairman Naveen Jindal, ISA secretary general Sanak Mishra, Essar Steel Odisha Projects CEO RK Mittal and top representatives of Bhusan Steel, MESCO Steel and Visa Steel had requested for the Government’s intervention for maximisation of production of iron ore and chrome ore to EC limit, ensuring availability of coal blocks for end-use steel plants, rationalisation of rate of royalty for iron ore fines and lumps, low contribution demand for the District Mineral Fund, clearance of supporting projects, uniform ceiling rate for mineral transportation and waiver of charges towards water conservation fund, etc. “Though the Chief Secretary was quite empathetic to the issues, limited results are seen on the ground. The Odisha-based steel industries are gasping for their survival on account of both policy and execution issues,” said the ISA spokesperson. Though the State Government has recently announced the ceiling rate for transportation, it is faulty and self-defeating, he said. 

It is pointed out that on account of the exorbitant transportation cost, non-rationalisation of royalty added with the DMF and policy incompatibility of raw material pricing aligned with the interest with the value addition industries, the steelmakers in Odisha end up with a production cost of Rs 28,000/tonne of finished products against the imported steel dumped by China in the Indian market at the rate of Rs 22,000.

So, the industry magnates have decided to meet the Chief Minister and discuss solutions so that significant steps are taken at the soonest. The loss of the Posco project is still haunting the minds of people and any further industry closure would send ripples in the market and signal an end to industrialisation in Odisha, said ISA sources.