Assembly panel recommends creation of Directorate of Steel

Suggests enhanced expenditure for mineral exploration

A departmentally related standing committee of the state legislative assembly has proposed that the Steel and Mines department should create a directorate to monitor investment in steel sector.

"It does not have any separate institutional mechanism for monitoring the investment and status of steel industries. The committee recommended that the Department should examine the possibility of setting up a directorate of steel to provide focus in investment in the steel industry," according to recommendations sent by the committee.

The Steel and Mines department currently has two wings - Directorate of Geology and Directorate of Mines. Directorate of Geology deals with prospecting and exploration of minerals while Directorate of Mines deals with administrative matters starting from royalty collection to issue of transport permit to lease holders. The investments announced by companies and its progress are monitored by Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited (IPICOL) which works under the Industries Department. But there is no separate institution for tracking steel sector specific investments in the state.
 

During last 10 years, a total of Rs 80,506.17 crore has been invested in steel sector in Odisha, bolstering the production capacity by 12.66 million tonne per annum (mtpa) of steel, 11.45 mtpa of sponge iron and 4.23 mtpa of other products, according to Economic Survey released this year.

The state government has signed 48 MoUs (memorandum of understanding) in the steel sector, envisaging combined production capacity of 83.66 million tonne out of which 30 projects have started partial production. In past couple of years, many mines operators have also proposed to set up sponge iron and pellet plants in the state in order to tag their mines with an end-use industry.

In its recommendation, the committee also stressed on improving expenditure on mineral exploration as this would help in determining value of mining leases at the time of auction, as per the new mining rules.

"The exploration of proven mineral resources is a pre-requisite for the auction of non-coal major minerals under the new MMDR Act. Mineral exploration activities in the state need to be stepped up substantially," it said. Despite Odisha being a mineral rich region, exploration of minerals has been very poor and none of the mineral blocks in the state are tagged as G1 (proven) reserves. There are a few G2 (possible) level exploration in some areas while many blocks still come under G3 (probable) level exploration. As per the revised MMDR Act, only G1 level areas can be put up for auction.