Owing to problems related to land acquisition, a steel mill proposed to be constructed by a joint venture of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and NMDC Limited in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh will be relocated, a Chhattisgarh government official said on Friday, December 16.
The government official said that the Chhattisgarh government last year commenced land acquisition for the steel mill project at Dilmili but the acquisition process ran into roadblocks of opposition by few locals and opposition political parties, prompting the government to scout for a new site.
The official said that the government identified a new site which had earlier been allocated for a steel mill proposed by Tata Steel but, with the latter abandoning the project, the site could be offered to SAIL-NMDC JV. On the other hand, the Chhattisgarh government commenced the process of acquiring an additional 5,000 acres for the new steel mill project, the official added. As result of issues with land acquisition, the project has been delayed by around 18 months.
The SAIL-NMDC joint venture for a steel mill was one of the four steel mill projects that had been conceived and promoted by India’s Ministry of Steel in the states of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Karnataka.
Billed as ‘ultra mega’ steel projects, the combined steel production capacities of these projects is set at 12 million mt per year in the first phase and will be ramped up to 24 million mt per year, with the second phase to be implemented once production in the first phase is on stream, the official added.