Posco, ArcelorMittal may get land of fert, cement cos

The Centre is toying with the idea of allotting land lying idle with various non-functional state-run fertiliser and cement firms to companies like ArcelorMittal and Posco, which are facing problems in acquiring land for their proposed plants.

"There is no land problem. The land is available in the country. The need of the hour is to identify free-land areas and compute it, put it on a website for the investors," Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi told PTI.

Over 18,000 acres of free land is lying vacant with several state-run fertiliser and cement companies which are not operational now, he pointed out.

A staggering investment of up to Rs 11 lakh crore has been committed to the domestic steel sector by public and private companies. Rs 1.5 lakh crore projects of ArcelorMittal and Posco is yet to take off mainly due to problems in acquiring land in the mineral-rich states of Jharkhand and Orissa.

"It is not necessary for a company to set up a steel plant exactly at the site of the iron ore and coal reserves. It could be at a place 50-60 km away," Chaturvedi pointed out.

New steel projects of domestic firms like Tata Steel, JSW Steel are also facing problems in land acquisition besides the regulatory hurdles in securing raw material resources.