ROURKELA: Six years after the proposed Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) technology centre at Rourkela was sanctioned by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), not a single brick has been laid for the project so far.
In November 2018, the CCEA had sanctioned 20 technology centres including the one for Rourkela and 100 extension centres across the country. More than six years later, there has been zero progress on the proposed centre at Rourkela.
In fact, the development of the MSME technology centre at Kantajharan here has been moving in files even after finalisation of 14.45 acre of land by the Rourkela tehsil office in May 2023 and allocation of around Rs 200 crore by the Ministry of MSME several years back.
Reliable sources said in April 2023, the office of the development commissioner under the MSME Ministry had belatedly floated request for proposal to appoint a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) as the nodal agency for establishment of the new centres on turnkey basis. The scope of work included preparing DPRs, planning, designing, constructing and monitoring civil infrastructure, procuring machines and equipment, managing contracts, and providing implementation support to the development commissioner’s office.
Accordingly, central PSU IRCON International Ltd won the bid in August 2023 and was appointed as the nodal agency for establishment of the centres on PPP mode. Sources said searching for a private partner, IRCON International floated a tender on November 11, 2024 for a value of Rs 193.63 crore with the opening date being March 12, 2025.
Earlier on January 3, 2020, the development commissioner, MSME had requested the Odisha Revenue department to identify 20 acre of land. Subsequently, 14.45 acre of the leasehold land of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) at Kantajharan was provided for the purpose.
According to official communication, the MSME Ministry has already sanctioned Rs 200 crore including Rs 100 crore for building infrastructure and the rest Rs 100 crore for procurement of testing equipment and machineries for the technology centre.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh MP Jual Oram said he would review the status of the proposed technology centre and take up the issue with the Ministry of MSME for its expeditious implementation.
One of its kind and an advanced version of the Central Tools Room and Training Centre at Bhubaneswar, the proposed technology centre at Rourkela envisages to equip local MSMEs with advanced manufacturing technologies, provide technical and business advisory support and also create a pool of skilled manpower resources.