PTI reported that Bhushan Steel Limited has put its proposed INR 20,000 crore steel plant in West Bengal on hold, stonewalled by the Ms Mamata Banerjee government’s policy of not acquiring land for industry.

Mr Nittin Johari company director finance told PTI that “Land acquisition in the state is an uphill task for the industries. We can not do it alone. It is difficult for us to acquire such a vast area on our own.”

He added that “It (the project) is on hold, nothing is moving there. We can not make any commitment on capital expenditure until the land is acquired fully.”

Bhushan Steel had proposed to set up a 6 million tonnes per annum steel plant in the Asansol industrial area, for which it required about 2,500 acres of land. It was envisaged to to have 3 million tonnes per annum capacity in the first phase and was to be operational by 2015.

However, the company’s plans were affected by the state government’s decision to not acquire land for industry when the Ms Mamata Banerjee led government assumed office in May, 2011.

(Sourced from PTI)