Bhubaneswar: Union petroleum and steel minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged the union Commerce and industries minister Piyush Goyal to revive the Angul Aluminium Park in Odisha.

Pradhan, in a letter to Goyal on Tuesday, has stated, “I seek your personal intervention to re-start the project for up-gradation of infrastructure at Angul Aluminium Park in Odisha. “

Under Modified Industral Infrastructure Up-gradation Scheme (MIIUS) notified by department of promotion of industries and internal trade (DPIIT), Angul Aluminium Park was conceived with a project cost of Rs99.60 crore in 2015. The Central component in the project was Rs33.44 crore as grant. An implementing agency (IA) was floated in the style of Angul Aluminium Park Pvt. Ltd. (AAPPL) and the funds were transferred to the IA.

The project however failed to take off.

The MIIUS on November 1, 2018 dropped the project and directed the AAPPL to refund the released the Central grant.

Suggesting that a officers level review be undertaken to assess the project progress and identify the bottleneck, the union petroleum minister has urged Goyal “to re-start the project for up-gradation of infrastructure at AAP, with a renewed focus on ironing out the bottleneck for an expeditiously completion of the project.”

“Keeping in mind our government’s commitment to develop the minerals sector in Odisha and boost the State’s economy, I also request you to restore the Central assistance to the Odish Aluminium Cluster at Angul.”