State reaffirms commitment to Rs 2000 crore titanium project

Starts process of acquisition of additional land.

The fate of the Rs 2000-crore integrated chemical and metallurgical complex (ICMC) at Chhatrapur in south Orissa's Ganjam district may be hanging in balance following the exit of the Kolkata-based Saraf Agencies but the Orissa government has not given up hope on the project.

The state government is preparing to acquire the additional land needed for the project in the aftermath of the exit of Saraf Agencies.

The palli sabha will be held on June 30 at the concerned gram panchayats to seek the opinion of the people to alienate two patches of forest lands measuring around 150 acres and to acquire additional land for the project, sources said.

As per the original scheme of things, the project was conceived as an Indo-Russian joint venture between Saraf Agencies and Russian promoters- Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management and JSC Technochim Holding which had formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the project called Titanium Products Private Limited (TPPL) on January 29, 2008.

Unlike other major industrial projects, the SPV did not face any hurdle for land acquisition or for developing infrastructure facilities. It had already acquired about 300 hectares; while the process was on to acquire another 300 hectares for its proposed sector specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Differences had cropped up among the Indian and Russian promoters, casting a shadow of uncertainty over the titanium complex and virtually pushing it into a blind alley. There was no work on the project for the last six months.

It may be noted that Saraf Agencies had exited the venture owing to differences over allotment of land for the project. The Russian promoters had alleged that the land was alloted directly to Saraf Agencies instead of TTPL.

Even though the Russian partner had announced to set up the project on their own after Saraf Agencies pulled out of the project, the work in the project is yet to take off, casting doubts among the locals on the grounding of the project.

The state government has however, exuded confidence on the implementation of the project.

The Russian government has not withdrawn from the project and declared to set up it on its own, while the Orissa government has also reaffirmed its interest in the project and pledged its support, said a senior government official.

About Rs 1200 crore was to be invested in the first phase of the project while an investment of Rs 800 crore was lined up for the second phase.

The first phase was scheduled to be commissioned within 24 months and production was expected to commence from October 2010.

The titanium complex was to produce 1,08,000 tonnes of titanium slag, 68,000 tonnes of high purity pig iron, 40,000 tonnes of di-oxide pigment and 10,000 tonnes of titanium sponge.