CCI-PMG meet to vet large industrial projects in Odisha today

The Project Monitoring Group (PMG) of the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) will today jointly take stock of large industrial projects in Odisha with top officials of the state government.

Projects in sectors like steel, railways, coal mining and power would be reviewed to help overcome bottlenecks. The team of CCI-PMG will be led by Anil Swaroop, additional secretary, Cabinet secretariat and also the Coal secretary.

The 12 million tonne steel project proposed by Posco India is likely to take the centre stage of discussions. With both the central and state governments committed to push the mega steel project forward, the issues impeding its progress are lined up for talks.

Posco India, which had originally proposed 12 million tonne plant near Paradeep, had later redesigned its project, intending to set up eight million tonne steel mill in the first phase. The steel plant at its full capacity needed 4004 acres land but for the Phase-I capacity of eight mtpa, 2700 acres land were needed.

The state government's land acquisition agency- Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has already acquired 2700 acres but 1700 acres has been handed over to the copany. Land transfer of the remaining 1000 acres is pending as Posco is yet to clear land cost dues worth Rs 54 crore and NPV (net present value) dues amounting to Rs 18 crore for diversion of forest land.

The state steel & mines department has pointed out that the approval of the central government yet to approve grant of prospecting license (PL) over Khandadhar iron ore deposits. This is despite the fact that the state government has submitted its compliance to the clarification sought by the central mines ministry. The biggest FDI project ($12 billion) has already suffered due to delay in acquiring land and getting mining license.

The Rs 60,000 crore ambitious coal-to-liquid (CTL) project, which Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) shelved on Monday, also figures on the agenda. JSPL shelved the project since it lost the Ramchandi promotional coal block allocated for the project after a Supreme Court order in August.

In the power sector, the 4000 Mw ultra mega power project (UMPP) coming up at Bhedabahal will be reviewed along with coal based power projects proposed by Lanco Babandh Power Ltd, Monnet Power, KVK Nilachal Power Ltd and SMC Power Generation Ltd.

The product pipelines of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd- Paradip-Haldia-Barauni and Paradip-Raipur-Ranchi are slated for review.

The key crucial rail link projects like Jharsuguda-Rengali, Talcher-Bimlagarh and Angul-Sukinda also figure in the agenda.