September 08, 2008

Update on ArcelorMittal’s steel plant in Orissa

Kalinga Times reported that top officials of ArcelorMittal met Mr Naveen Patnaik chief minister of Orissa on the weekend to discuss about the company's proposed 12 million tonne capacity steel project in Keonjhar district. The issues discussed include land acquisition, water requirement, mining lease and preparation of rehabilitation and resettlement package.

After the meeting, Mr Malay Mukherjee member of group management board at ArcelorMittal said that the project was progressing faster. He added that "We are pretty satisfied with the progress we have made. Processes of land acquisition are moving faster considering the fact that we signed MoU in December 2006. The detailed project report of the project will be ready by June 2008 and it expects to commission the first phase of the plant by 2011-12. We started a detailed survey to finalize the R&R policy for the people who would lose their land and homes to make space for the mega steel plant.”

During their meeting with the chief minister, Mr Mukherjee and his colleagues informed Orissa government that they had already set up an office in Bhubaneswar and soon they will have an office in Keonjhar. They also agreed to the government's proposal to set up an Industrial Training Institute in Keonjhar for the benefit of the local youths.