OMC to acquire 9% stake in Angul-Sukinda rail project

This, to implement the Rs 1,100 cr rail link project

State controlled miner Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) is set to pick up nine per cent stake in Angul-Duburi-Sukinda Special Railway,  a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed to implement the Rs 1100-crore rail link project.

The state government will hold 10 per cent stake in the SPV through its two PSUs of which nine per cent equity will be of OMC and the residual one per cent of Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).

"OMC has given its consent to pick up nine per cent stake in the Angul-Sukinda rail link project. We are now awaiting a formal proposal from the SPV”, said OMC chairman and managing director Saswat Mishra.

In the SPV, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) holds 45 per cent stake while Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) and Bhushan Steel & Power Ltd have 25 per cent and 20 per cent equity respectively.

Construction work on the Angul-Duburi-Sukinda Road rail link project, projected as the life line of the fast growing industrial belt, was expected to take off by end of April 2013. But commencement of work on the project was delayed due to pending land acquisition and also delay in decision making by OMC to acquire stake in the project. While Idco had earlier confirmed its one per cent equity participation in the SPV, dithering by the OMC was hampering the availability of loan and implementation of the project.

This rail project is set to handle traffic of 70.28 million tonne and will serve industries like Bhushan Steel, Uttam Galva Steel, Jindal Stainless Ltd, Visa Industries, Tata Steel, Monnet Ispat & Energy and Rungta Mines.

Officials of three concerned districts- Angul, Dhenkanal and Koenjhar have been urged to provide active support in getting physical possession of acquired land.

The project needs 205 acres of private land, 220 acres of government land and 251 acres of forest land. The project is being implemented on the public private partnership (PPP) mode.

The rail link project is considered to be extremely crucial as it links three important industrial hubs.