OdishaPlus Bureau
After deciding to set up First Steel Cluster of the Country at Kalinga Nagar, Union Government has constituted a Task Force to identify the potential Industries which will come up in the Steel Zone. The Kalinga Nagar Steel Cluster pilot project is one of the 100 days agenda of the Ministry of Steel and the medium-term five-year plan for boosting steel production in the country.
The task force will be headed by Union Steel Secretary Binoy Kumar and co-chaired by Odisha Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy. The Union government has decided to set up a Steel Cluster in Kalinga Nagar keeping in view the bright prospects of steel production in the country in general and Odisha in particular.
The Ministry of Steel has a target of producing 250 million ton per annum (MTPA) steel by 2030 and is in the process of formulating a national policy for the creation of steel clusters in the country. A team of officials led by Union Secretary Steel during their visit to the steel complexes in Jajpur were impressed with its location and infrastructure facilities to set up the first steel cluster of the country there, said officials.
Legendary Leader Biju Patnaik had planned it at Kalinga Nagar way back in the early ’90s and set in motion the development of the Industrial Zone, which houses a large number of major industries. Kalinga Nagar is a unique place with three steel complexes – Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, and Neelachal Ispat – and is considered as an ‘Ideal Location’ for a steel cluster.
The steel cluster program aims to enhance the downstream industry eco-system in the steel sector, said a senior official in the Ministry of Steel. Such a cluster will boost the production of value-added products and drive import substitution as well as generate more job opportunities for the people.
While the State is over-reliant on mineral exploitation and export, the Steel cluster will make a shift from mining to manufacturing, pointed out the official. The task force for Odisha will look into all these aspects while identifying the industries and investors to come up in the Kalinga Nagar area.
Meanwhile, a working group has been formed for finding potential investors and industries in Auto ancillary, Agricultural Implements, Antifriction Bearing Spare Parts, Building Materials and Fittings, Belt and Accessories Copper, Crane Equipments, Corrugated Sheets, Cement, Casting Powder, Ferroalloys, Mobile Equipments, MS Angles, Channel, Rod, Foundries and Forging and several other industries. The Union Government has approached the State Government to provide details on land available through State Land Bank, so as to provide information about the extent of private and government land available around Tata Steel, NINL and JSL.
The Industries Department will coordinate with the Steel Ministry to take up the steel cluster program in a time-bound manner, said official sources.