Jharkhand's R&R policy an obstacle for steel majors

Investment proposals worth Rs 178,000 crore in the steel sector in Jharkhand are uncertain with companies having reservations on the terms and conditions of the state's Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy like sharing profits with people who give away land.     

Among the major bottlenecks that the steel majors foresee in the policy, put on hold because Chief Minister Shibu Soren wants to review it, are providing one per cent of the plant's net profit to land losers and pension of Rs 1,000 an acre per month for 30 years.  
   
During a meeting with senior Steel Ministry officials a couple of months ago, the prospective investors said that the terms and conditions of the state's R&R Policy are difficult to implement, a senior government official said.     

"We have proposed setting up a number of steel and power plants in the State. If we give away one per cent of the net profit of each of the plants, what business would we do," asked a senior official of a leading steel company that has proposed a greenfield project in the State.     

The steel firms are also opposed to the idea of providing companies' shares to the land losers, saying it would land them in a soup when the market turns unfavourable.      

Among the country's mineral-rich states, Jharkhand has inked a maximum of 57 memoranda of understanding in steel with a proposed capacity of 91.7 million tonnes.      

The companies that have proposed greenfield projects in the state include ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Essar, JSPL and Ispat Industries.     

To discuss threadbare the major issues concerning the prospective investors, Steel Secretary P K Rastogi is on a two-day visit to Jharkhand from today.