Speech of Hon’ble Chief Minister at the 7th Asia Steel Conference-2018
Bhubaneswar/06.02.2018 :Chief minister of Odisha Navin pattanaik invited the steel producers to set up their industries in the State and he assured the best possible facilitation by the State to them .
Speaking to the delegates in the 7th Asia Steel Conference 2018 Sri pattanaik said that Odisha is a mineral rich state with abundant resources of iron ore, coal, chrome and other minerals. The State Government has been providing support for development of mineral based Industries through adoption of appropriate policies. Today, Odisha is producing about half of the country’s iron ore. Because of indigenous availability of such high grade Iron ore, the critical input for steel making, Odisha has a competitive advantage for production of Steel. From the installed capacity of about 4 million tons per annum of crude steel in the year 1999-2000, the State of Odisha now has 47 steel industries with the total capacity of over 33 million tons per annum which is about one fourth of the country’s total installed capacity. The pellet plants in the State have an installed capacity of about 29 million tons per annum.
The National Steel Policy-2017 envisages the increase in per capita steel consumption from the present level of 61 Kg to 158 Kg by 2030. My State is aiming to contribute substantially to this national target. Both the steel manufacturers and the Government have to work in tandem to achieve this objective. Odisha Government has taken several initiatives over the years to facilitate setting up and operation of the industries. We have introduced the policy of long term linkage of Iron Ore, Chrome Ore and other minerals to the state based Industries through Odisha Mining Corporation Limited. Odisha was the first State in the country to auction iron-ore block under the amended MMDR Act. Three iron-ore blocks have already been auctioned and four more blocks are being readied for auction in the coming months . The steel makers to participate in the auction for ensuring their raw material security CM sri Pattanaik said .
The Central Government has appreciated the ‘Integrated Mines and Minerals Management System’ called i3MS that enables IT-enabled monitoring of the mining sector and has advised other States to introduce similar systems. The State has also recently implemented a GPS based Vehicle Tracking System for online and real-time monitoring of mineral carrying vehicles, which has been conferred with the Geospatial World Excellence Award this year , CM said .
He again added that A National Investment and Manufacturing Zone is being developed at Kalinganagar, spread over 160 square kilometers, the Zone is envisaged to become a self-contained ecosystem along with residential, commercial and social amenities. It will enable the potential investors to set up value added downstream industries.Among others, Union Steel Secretary Dr. Aruna Sharma, Asia Steel International Conference Chairman Sri Anand Sen, President of Indian Institute of Metals Dr Biswajit Basu attended the event.
