Jamshedpur: In Odisha, thousands of engineers, technicians, construction workers and other support staff are working round-the-clock to ensure that the first batch of steel products roll out of the gigantic complex by end of fiscal 2014-15. Workers donning yellow and blue hard hats swarm the various facilities sinter plant, blast furnace, power plant, railway lines, etc � that make up the huge integrated steel plant.
Located about 100km from the state capital Bhubaneshwar, Kalinganagar today presents a state of dramatic activity that is completely in sync with the tremendous significance of the project to Tata Steel. When completed, Kalinganagar will produce 6 million tonnes of steel products � raising Tata Steel India�s output by 60 percent from the 10 million tonnes that it produces now at Jamshedpur.
Speaking about the lessons learnt in Kalinganagar, Tata Steel MD for India and South East Asia TV Narendran said, �At Kalinganagar, we assumed that because we had the Tata name and we were going in with good intentions, the project would be relatively smooth and our intentions would be appreciated and welcomed. But there is a local reality. There are vested interests, genuine local issues, community concerns, etc. So the big learning is there is a need to do a lot of equity building with the local community. The local community is not bothered with our history in Jamshedpur; they have genuine concerns which have to be addressed. This aspect was something that we probably underestimated.�
The first phase of the project targets an output of 3 million tonnes and occupies 2,000 acres of land. Phase 2, which will take another three years, will double the output and grow to cover a total of 3,100 acres, making Kalinganagar the largest single-location greenfield project in India. Says TV Narendran, managing director, Tata Steel India and South East Asia: �Kalinganagar is Tata Steel�s first greenfield project outside of Jamshedpur. The plant will not just add volumes, but also enrich our product mix and enable us to maintain our industry leadership position.�
The project started back in 2005 with a budget of approximately 150 billion. Today the budget has crossed `400 billion and counting. �Typically it costs about $1 billion dollars (about `60 billion) to produce a million tonnes of steel. At Kalinganagar, we are spending about `40-50 billion extra at the project site to build local infrastructure and amenities,� said the MD.
