Essar plans to set up 2,000-seat BPO at Ranchi: Shashi Ruia

Essar is planning to set up a BPO facility with a sitting capacity of 2,000 in Ranchi, and hopes to obtain coal linkages for its 1,200 MW thermal power plant at Tori in Jharkhand, the company's chairman Shashi Ruia on Thursday said.

Essar's outsourcing business Aegis has set up BPO facility at Jamshedpur with 2,500 seating capacity.

"I am happy to inform you that we are considering to set up a similar facility at Ranchi, which will have 2,000 seating capacity," Ruia said at the Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors Summit.

Essar has a presence in the state through its power, mining and BPO businesses.

He said Essar has committed to about Rs 10,000 crore investment for setting up a 1,200 MW power plant at Tori and development of Toskiud North Coal Mine with an estimated expenditure of about Rs 1,100 crore.

The power project, he said, is at an advanced stage of completion, with over Rs 4,700 crore already invested on the ground.

The founder chairman of the company further said the state government had granted all statutory clearances for the power plant but "it is unfortunate" that the coal blocks that were allotted as a fuel source for this project were de-allocated by the Supreme Court for all mines from 1993 onwards. Thus bringing the project to a standstill.

"We are now awaiting fuel linkage and are confident that the state and central government will support fuel requirement for the project through the upcoming coal mine auctions and linkages," Ruia said in presence of Union Ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Once operationalised, he said the power plant and Tokisud North Coal Mine would together generate a direct employment of 1,000 people and indirect employment of 4,500.