BHUBANESWAR: In its efforts to prevent major projects from going off-track due to land issues, the Odisha government has begun land acquisition process for the proposed 5 MTPA greenfield steel plant of the JSW-POSCO joint venture (JV) in Keonjhar, the home district of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Even as the JV is yet to announce the location for the Rs 40,000 crore project officially, the advance move comes from the lesson it learnt in the past when the South Korean steel giant POSCO had to withdraw its $12 billion steel project in Jagatsinghpur district over land acquisition hurdles two decades ago.
Sources said 2,466 acres of land across eight villages under Patna tehsil in mineral-rich Keonjhar have been earmarked for the project. The parcel includes 976 acres of government land and 1,490 acres private. It involves 794 acres of forest land, of which 60 acres are in private possession.
“The deadline has been set to acquire the government land in next two months and issue notifications for acquisition of private land by November end. The environment clearance for the project will be applied by December this year,” sources told The New Indian Express. Officials clarified that only agricultural land will be acquired, with no displacement issues as it has been planned accordingly to avoid inhabited areas.
The Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) has already filed the land acquisition proposal in respect of private land.
At the second meeting of the taskforce constituted to address industrial issues in Keonjhar, it has been decided that the discrepancy in land schedule, due to the proposed railway line from Keonjhar to Badampahad and interspersed land, if any, will be sorted out jointly with the officials of IDCO, district administration, railway authorities and JSW immediately.
After the JSW Group and POSCO signed an MoU in October last year to set up an integrated steel plant in India, Sajjan Jindal led JSW Group inked a pact with the state government during the Utkarsh Odisha conclave in January for the project with an initial capacity of 5 MTPA in Keonjhar.
In August, the two steel majors signed a non-binding heads of agreement (HoA) to jointly explore setting up an integrated steel plant and synergies in battery materials and renewable energy. Although there was no mention about the exact location of the steel project, a statement filed with the National Stock Exchange read that Odisha was among the key locations being considered.
“The JSW has already deposited Rs 11.5 crore for the pre-land acquisition activities, including DGPS survey, topological and logistic survey, engagement of consultants for forest and environment clearances. As per the JSW and POSCO agreement, the former will carry out all pre-project activities and the latter will step in during the construction phase. This is why POSCO has been kept out of the official announcement in the Keonjhar project so far,” sources added.