The government of the eastern Indian state of Odisha is preparing a land bank to attract investments in steel mills and make the region the country’s “steel hub”, an official at the state’s industrial development agency said on Tuesday, October 2.
The official said that the project to create a land bank is a follow-up to the Odisha government’s decision to allot 2,700 acres of land to JSW Limited for construction of a 12 million mt per year steel mill.
The land located at Paradip Port on the eastern coast had been initially earmarked and handed over to POSCO India which, however, abandoned its planned investment for an 11 million mt per year steel mill after failing to secure allotment of an iron ore block from the local government.
The official said that the GIS-enabled land bank had the potential to offer 121,000 acres of land to prospective investments in steel projects.
The Odisha government has also invited the joint venture of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and ArcelorMittal, which is working to construct an auto grade steel mill, to be located in Odisha for which the state government will offer suitable land from its land bank, the official added.