Big ticket investments elude Paradip

The withdrawal of steel major Posco from Paradip was one of the biggest setbacks for not only Odisha but also the seaport town.

PARADIP: The withdrawal of steel major Posco from Paradip was one of the biggest setbacks for not only Odisha but also the seaport town. Not only Posco but several other major industries have withdrawn their projects from the town owing to stiff resistance by locals and delay in procuring environmental clearance and land acquisition. This has led to a sense of disappointment among the local youths who were hoping for jobs in the proposed industries.  

Sources said the proposed project of ammonium nitrate complex for manufacturing technical ammonium nitrate of 1,000 tonne and ammonia of 380 tonne of Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd (DFPCL) is likely to be withdrawn.

Earlier, DFPCL had acquired required 83.26 acre land before getting environmental clearance from the public in October 2017.  The company has stocked its construction materials in a rented house in Paradip and has been giving a rent of `10 lakh per annum since January 2018. It also has a branch office, which is functioning from a rented accommodation, at Udayabata.  

After getting environmental clearance, DFPCL had applied for no objection certificate from Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). However, it is yet to get the certificate. Sources said the company was asked to obtain the certificate from CRZ despite the fact that the proposed plant, once set up, will not be influenced by tidal action (in the landward side) and up to 500 metre of High Tide Line (HTL).

Besides, the firm has not yet been given environmental clearance from National Green Tribunal (NGT). All these factors have delayed setting up of the proposed plant and now the company is mulling to withdraw its project from the region.

In 2005, when Posco signed a memorandum of understanding with Odisha Government to set up 12 MT capacity steel project in Paradip, it was termed the biggest investment in India ever. However, the company withdrew its project from Paradip in 2017 owing to stiff resistance from locals and politicisation of the issue. Later, the land, earmarked for the project, was allotted to JSW Steel.  

Acting on the direction of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), IDCO has now stopped the construction of boundary wall of the proposed JSW project due to absence of environmental clearance from NGT.  Pro-industry leader Nirvaya Samantray said the companies that had planned projects in the region did not bother to consult the locals. 

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