Land acquisition for Bhushan project to start by month-end

The West Bengal government will start land acquisition in the Asansol-Durgapur belt for Delhi-based Bhushan Steel’s project over the next fortnight, setting aside objections raised by Coal India.

“We had a meeting with the commerce and industry department and the ministry has already directed the district magistrate to prepare for land acquisition. The process will start within the next fortnight,” said Bhushan Steel sources.

The process would include a repeat of the gram sabha, as well, as the project had been realigned. The site for the proposed six million tonne steel project has been realigned 300-400 acres to leave out major coal bearing areas.

Bhushan Steel had finished the process gram sabha process when Coal India raised objections to having industrial projects in the Asansol-Durgapur belt area in the Bardhaman district, which was coal bearing.

The compensation for the land had also been fixed at Rs 6.5 lakh an acre, but could see some escalation.

The land requirement in the Rs 20,000 crore steel project is around 2,500 acres. “If the West Bengal government goes ahead with the land acquisition, legally, Coal India cannot prevent it, as it is not in their licensed area. The surface right is with people who own the land,” pointed out the source.

Bhushan Steel has lost more than a year in its wait for the land acquisition process to make any headway. The company is now hoping that it would get physical possession over the next 9-10 months.

“If we get the land in 9-10 months, then from next July we will start the leveling and constructing the boundary wall,” said the Bhushan Steel source.

Once the land issue is sorted, talks with Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Industries would progress. Sumitomo is in talks with Bhushan for picking up stake in the Bengal project. “The valuation has been stuck due to the land. If we don’t have the land in hand, we will not get the right value,” explained Bhushan sources.

Bhushan Steel had initially signed an agreement with the West Bengal government for a two million steel project, which had now been scaled to six million tonnes. A cold rolling project was also part of the agreement, which was coming up at Sankrail. Bhushan’s memorandum with the state government came right after the Nandigram land fiasco and the police firing over the turf war that followed, claiming at least 14 lives.