Jamshedpur/ Bhubaneswar, Nov 15: Land acquisition continues to be a major problem for setting up an industry in Odisha as there is no clarity at the ground level, leading to delays in projects and cost overruns even though the Odisha government has a clear policy, feel captains of major industries who are setting up their projects in the state.
“Taking out land for setting up a project in Gujarat and Odisha is quite different. While the Odisha government has a clear policy to deal with land acquisition, there is lack of clarity over implementation at ground level,” said Nalco Chief Managing Director Anshuman Das at a discussion here.
He said that the government is good at dealing with the public and they are trained for that in terms of land acquisition and other issues. Tata Steel Managing Director T.V. Narendran said unless all stake holders talk to each other, there cannot be economic growth.
“In China, a steel plant is built in three years. But, in India it takes many years. I am not suggesting we go the China way. We have a democracy and we need to take every stake holder into account for inclusive growth,” said Narendran. Talking to the media persons TV Narendran said, Tata Steel’s plant at Kalinganagar in Odisha is on track to start production by March 2015.
With work going on at a fast pace in the area, the plant will be ready by March next year, Narendran said to a question here. The Odisha project is the second integrated unit of the home-grown steel major in India after Jamshedpur. Meanwhile, referring to the closure of iron-ore mines, he said this has posed challenges for the private steel major. Of the 2.5 million tonne requirement of raw material, Narendran said: “1.6 million tonne was imported even though our mines are merely a few hundred kilometres away from location.”
It was only a loss for the country, he said while suggesting that the mineral law and regulation be made more transparent and consistent. Narendran, who was talking to media after inaugurating the first fourday Pan-India Tribal ConclaveSamvaad at Gopal Maidan here, said the country has potential to achieve 78 per cent growth rate though it was not an easy task.
The government has to improve the infrastructure sector to realise this pace of growth, he said.
