The Odisha government has recommended to the Union ministry of commerce & industry to extend formal approval for Tata Steel's multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Gopalpur for one year.
"The state government has been pleased to recommend the proposal of Tata Steel for extension of formal approval for another one year from June 18 this year to June 17, 2014, in respect of multi-product SEZ at Gopalpur. You are therefore, requested to kindly place the matter before the Board of Approvals (BoA) on SEZs for consideration and approval," S C Naik, additional secretary (industries), Odisha wrote to director-SEZ under Union commerce & industry ministry. Tata Steel is the anchor tenant for the industrial park being developed at Gopalpur on an area of 2,952 acres. Establishment of SEZ needs a minimum area of 2,500 acres.
In March this year, Tata Steel obtained coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) approval from the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) for the industrial park. Land at Gopalpur was acquired by Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha (Idco) for an integrated steel mill originally proposed by Tata Steel in 1995. But later, the steel maker shelved the project and instead proposed to construct an industrial park there. As anchor tenant of the park, the company would set up a 50,000 tonne per annum ferrochrome plant and one 400,000 rebar mill over 400 acres of land.
