Govt forms panel to assess steel projects

The principal secretary of the state’s commerce and industries department, Sabyasachi Sen, announced this today at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The committee will look into the economic sustainability of each of the steel projects announced in the state though a final decision is pending on the matter.

Sen said that the state government was monitoring the situation closely since a series of steel projects had been announced in the state.

“We cannot afford the land, which is a scarce and precious commodity and earmarked for the steel projects, to be locked in case the projects do not take off,” said Sen.

A question on the viability of the projects was raised by one of the ICC members who pointed out that Bengal had no reserves of iron ore and coking coal, and had to import these which command a very high price in the international market at present.

In recent times, it has also been reported that the chief ministers of the neighbouring states that have these resources, like Orissa and Jharkhand, have decided to provide captive mines for the steel projects coming up in their respective states alone.

West Bengal has around 14 large and small steel projects in the pipeline - roughly Rs 90,000 crore is being invested in them. The projects will add an additional capacity of 37.8 million tonnes, excluding the capacity of the public sector steel units. “All the projects might not be sustainable in the short term,” observed Sen.

Sen said that the committee will involve members who would offer advice on how much land, water, coal and other resources are required for the projects. The secretary said it was a common trend for promoters of steel projects to ask for more land than was required for the proposed unit in order to keep reserve space for possible future expansion. The state government is planning to check this trend and find out how much land each project would need in proportion to the planned capacity.