Odisha can produce 100 million tonnes of steel: Union Minister

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh visited Kalinganagar yesterday and interacted with MDs/CEOs of major steel producing units located in Odisha.

In his remarks, the Minister said that Odisha is a major steel producing State contributing more than half of steel production in the country. It is rich in minerals and mines and has a potential to produce 100 million tonnes of steel out of 300 million tonnes envisaged in National Steel Policy by the year 2030-31, he said.

Kalinganagar is a major industrial hub. Around 15 steel plants are located in this region which include public sector plants like NINL and private sector plants like TATA Steel, Jindal Stainless Limited, Visa Steel and MESCO. To achieve the common objective of producing 300 million tonnes by 2030, enhanced production from Kalinganagar and Odisha is important, Singh said.

The Minister expressed hope that Kalinganagar will develop potential for downstream facilities which include ferro alloy plants, duct iron pipes, steel furniture, power component manufacturing as well as stainless steel units.

He discussed in detail the challenges to the growth of Indian Steel Industry, such as logistics in terms of development of ports and increasing capacity of Indian railways, creating dedicated freight corridors to move raw materials as well as finished goods.

The Steel Minister expressed confidence that both Central Government and State government together find solutions at policy and operational level to achieve higher level of production in Odisha.

Officers from the Central Government and the State Government were also present in the meeting.