New Delhi: Union Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh visited Kalinganagar on 12th June, 2018 and interacted with MDs/CEOs of major steel producing units located in the State of Odisha. In his remarksthe Minister stated that India has become the second largest steel producing country. In the financial year 2017-18, India produced more than 100 million tonnes of steel. Indian Steel Industry has come out of the difficulties faced during 2014-15 and 2015-16 due to various policy interventions by the Government of India. National Steel Policy and DMI&SP Policy were notified during 2017 giving direction and fillip to the domestic industry.
Odisha is a major steel producing State contributing more than half of steel production in the country. It is rich in minerals and mines and has a potential to produce 100 million tonnes of steel out of 300 million tonnes envisaged in National Steel Policy by the year 2030-31. Kalinganagar is a major industrial hub. Around 15 steel plants are located in this region which include public sector plants like NINL and private sector plants like TATA Steel, Jindal Stainless Limited, Visa Steel and MESCO. To achieve the common objective of producing 300 million tonnes by 2030, enhanced production from Kalinganagar and Odisha State is important. The Minister expressed the hope that Kalinganagarwill develop potential for downstream facilities which include ferro alloy plants, duct iron pipes, steel furniture, power component manufacturing as well as stainless steel units.
Industry representatives spoke about increased need for utilizing iron ore fines for pellet manufacturing so that precious iron ore can be preserved. The Minister discussed in detail the challenges to the growth of Indian Steel Industry, such as logistics in terms of development of ports and increasing capacity of Indian railways, creating dedicated freight corridors to move raw materials as well as finished goods. The Steel Minister expressed confidence that both Central Government and State government together find solutions at policy and operational level to achieve higher level of production in Odisha. Officers from the Central Government and the State Government were also present in the meeting.
