20 steel players achieve financial closure

Twenty out of 49 steel players, who had entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Orissa for setting up their projects in the state, have achieved financial closure by the end of the previous fiscal.

This was informed by the state minister for steel and mines Raghunath Mohanty in the state legislative assembly.

The companies that have achieved financial closure are Aarti Steels, Adhunik Metalliks, Visa Steel, Sree Metaliks, JSL (formerly Jindal Stainless), Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Bhushan Steel Ltd, Maithan Ispat Ltd, Eastern Steels and Power Ltd, OCL Iron & Steel Ltd and SMC Power Generation Ltd to name a few.Moreover, 29 steel players have kicked off partial production.

SMC Power Generation Ltd, SPS Steel & Power Ltd, Sree Metaliks Ltd, Beekay Steel & Power Ltd and Jai Balaji Jyoti Steels Ltd had started partial production as early as 2004.The others, who have started partial production later include Visa Steel Ltd, Bhushan Steel Ltd, Maithan Ispat Ltd, OCL Iron & Steel Ltd, JSL Ltd, Surendra Mining Industries Ltd and Sree Metaliks Ltd.These projects have so far added a steel capacity of 7.74 mt. This apart, the steel players have installed 1062 MW of captive power generation capacity. Investment worth Rs 50,325 crore has already been grounded in the sector in the state till now.

The boom in the steel sector is also reflected in the employment opportunities generated in the state. Investments in the steel sector have so far generated direct employment for 21,617 people besides creating 50,542 indirect jobs.It may be noted that as many as 49 steel players have entered into MoUs with the state government with a cumulative envisaged capacity of 83.66 million tonnes (mt) at an aggregate investment of Rs 2.3 lakh crore, making the state one of the most enviable investment destinations in the sector.