Bhubaneswar: The Indian Steel Association (ISA) has demamded that the Odisha based steel Industries be alloted iron ore on priority basis.
A high-level delegation from the ISA, led by Member of Parliament and President of ISA , Naveen Jindal Tuesday met Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to discuss key challenges and opportunities concerning the steel industry in the state.
The meeting witnessed the presence of senior government officials including the Chief Secretary Ms. Anu Garg, Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary (Steel & Mines) Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Hemant Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Saswata Mishra, and OMC’s Chairman Girish S.N. and OMC’s Managing Director Sudhansu Mohan Samal.
The delegation emphasized Odisha’s pivotal role as a leading steel-producing state in India and expressed its appreciation to the State government for its continued support to the steel sector.The ISA delegation suggested a set of measures to the State government and the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to boost iron ore availability for state-based industries.The delegation also requested fiscal incentives for the steel industries to attract the investments necessary to meet Odisha’s ambitious target of 100 MTPA steel production capacity by 2030.
Furthermore, the ISA urged the government to constitute a dedicated Task Force to design a comprehensive logistics and infrastructure roadmap capable of supporting this massive 100 MTPA capacity.
Briefing the media after the meeting,Naveen Jindal said, “Under the dynamic leadership of the Chief Minister, significant progress is being made, with steel plants expanding rapidly and supporting infrastructure being strengthened across the state. The mining policy and auction process followed by Odisha is the best in the country. The state earns highest revenue for this. We thanked Chief Minister for the same”.
“We informed the Chief Minister about the need to scale up iron ore production to sustain the growth of the steel sector. We also requested that Steel Industries in the State be given priority by the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for iron ore allocation. I am thankful to the Chief Minister for his assurance that there will be no shortage of iron ore for industries operating in Odisha,” he added. .
The ISA delegation included industry stalwarts including Tata Steel’s Managing Director TV Narendran, Indian Steel Association’s Secretary-General Alok Sahay, Tata Steel’s Vice-President (Corporate Services) DB Sundar Ramam, JSW Steel’s President Anil Singh, JSW BPSL’s Arun Maheswari, AMNS’ Director Alok Mehta, Jindal Stainless’s Chief Business Officer Shashibhushan Upadhyay and representatives of various other steel companies operating in Odisha.
