Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Resolve Issues Delaying Big Industries: CM

The New Indian Express (Bhubaneswar), May 24, 2015
BHUBANESWAR: In view of the delay in implementation of industrial projects, the State Government on Saturday decided to review their progress on a monthly basis to sort out the problems which are responsible for holding back the projects for years together.
A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat here. The Chief Minister asked the Industries Department to prepare a list of 20 big industries which have invested in the State and solve problems faced by them.
Naveen asked Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra to coordinate with other Ministers before the next monthly meeting and suggest measures to speed up the implementation of projects which have been delayed.
However, there was no discussion on the fate of Posco project. Official sources said, the steel project by the South Korean company which has been delayed by nearly ten years did not figure in the discussion. The proposed steel project at Paradip has become uncertain as Posco did not respond to the letter sent by the State Government to pay Rs 54 crore for the land acquired for the proposed plant.
 “We discussed about the challenges faced by 11 mega projects in the State. The Government is taking steps to resolve their issues and ensure smooth industrial environment in the State,” Mishra told mediapersons after the meeting.
Projects including the Visa Power Limited, the Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) proposed near Paradip, Auto Park near Cuttack, Lanco Power Limited, Aditya Aluminium and Jindal Steel and Power are facing land acquisition problems while some projects are facing forest diversion hurdles.
The refinery project of Vedanta (Sesa Sterlite) Limited in Kalahandi district is facing shortage of raw material, forcing it to run the one million tonne per annum plant at 30 per cent of capacity. Problems facing by the Gopalpur SEZ project in Ganjam were also discussed at the meeting.
 Mishra also said the meeting discussed the draft Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR) 2015. The policy is aimed at value addition and employment generation in the State, he added.
The Chief Minister directed the Labour and Employees’ State Insurance Department to submit a report before the next meeting on local people engaged in different projects in the State.

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