Tata Steel to resume work after notification of Gopalpur SEZ

Tata Steel will kick off the development works on its proposed multi-purpose Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project near Gopalpur in south Orissa’s Ganjam district, once the SEZ is notified.

Though Tata Steel's SEZ project was cleared by the Board of Approvals (BoA) under the Union commerce ministry, it is yet to be notified due to problems in possession of land.

“The land possession problems in Chamakahandi and Basanaputi villages will be sorted out very soon. Company authorities have agreed to undertake a fresh survey on the lands being left out in these villages, for the payment of compensation and taking physical possession”, said an official of Tata Steel.

Tata Steel had initially planned for establishment of a shore-based mega steel plant near Gopalpur and applied for about 3,700 acres of land . The steel project, however, was shelved due to several reasons including the non-availability of the core facilities like water, railway network and above all the strong opposition of the displaced persons.

Meanwhile, the company expects to take physical possession of land for the Gopalpur SEZ very soon. “We have already deposited the amount for the land acquisition and hope to get physical possession very soon for construction of the boundary walls”, said S S Routray, senior manager (administration), Gopalpur SEZ project ofTata Steel.

A tripartite meeting was held between the villagers, company officials and the district administration for physical acquisition of around 51.502 acres of land in Chamakhandi village and around 25 acres in Basanaputi village.

This meeting had a very positive response, said Routray.

In a parallel development the Gana Sangram Samiti, the organization spearheading the movement against land acquisition by Tata Steel at the site in the mid-nineties, will hold its meeting on April 16. The objective of the meeting is to decide whether to concede land for the SEZ or not. Tata Steel, on the other hand intends to withdraw from the 206.685 acres of land at Kalipalli village and 691 acres of land at Paikapada. According to official sources, though the land at Paikapada was acquired, it was not handed over to the company.

Once the implementation of the SEZ project starts, Tata Steel will have 2792.659 acres in nine villages including Chamakhandi and Basanaputi villages in its possession, sources said. A high-level review meeting was held recently at Chhatrapur on the land availability for the company's SEZ project. The meeting was presided over by Priyabrata Patnaik, chairman and managing director, Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO).