By Anurjay Dhal
BHUBANESWAR: It seems, IDCO and Industry Department of Odisha Government Making Mockery of Section 101 of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act. How Lanco Babandh Power Ltd- Saffron Resources Pvt Ltd- JSW Steel Ltd mysteriously manipulated 1000 Acres of Fertile Land in Odisha’s Dhenkanal in name of Power Plant ? A big question now.
From 2009 to 2026, no power plant at Odapada ( Khadakprasad-Khurunti) in Dhenkanal, Odisha but now Sajjan Jindal led JSW Steel owner these 1000 acres of land. 3 company exchanging land between them. Locals of Dhenkanal have approached the High Court for return of land to original owners.
In West Bengal Singur, land returned to land owners in 2016-17 after Tata Group pulled out from the Nano project but here case is different and land meant for power plant , is being exchanged between companies. Section 101 of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act have been grossly violated by these companies as law says, if land meant for industry not used, the said land shall be returned to original owners. District Collector of Dhenkanal has also ordered a probe into the issue.
The story goes like this , Hyderabad based Lanco Babandh Power Ltd was a planned 1,320 MW (2×660 MW) coal-fired thermal power project at Odapada ( Khadakprasad-Khurunti) in Dhenkanal, Odisha, initiated around 2009.
Due to financial distress and legal issues, the project failed to become operational, and its 265-meter chimney was demolished in December 2022. Following the failure, there are ongoing legal battles regarding the return of acquired land to local villagers.
Around 1000 acres of fertile land which was acquired by IDCO between 2009-10 at Rs 3 Lakhs to Rs 6 Lakhs per acre and handed over to Lanco Babandh Power Ltd then sold to formerly Sourav Agrawal, Amit Singhal led Saffron Resources Pvt Ltd following intervention of National Company Law Tribunal.
After LANCO back tracked from the project, NCLT after 5 to 6 years, sold the land to Saffron Resources Pvt Ltd at Rs 10 Lakhs per acre in 2023 and 2024, whereas land price per acre was Rs 80 Lakhs to Rs 1 Crore at that time . NCLT did this without taking consent of villagers, IDCO , Industry Department and Odisha Government.
After that JSW Steel later acquired Saffron Resources Pvt Ltd. In 2025, MoU for the Rs 35,000 crore steel plant in Dhenkanal, signed between the Odisha government and formerly Sourav Agrawal, Amit Singhal led Saffron Resources Pvt Ltd (JSW Group), was part of recent HLCA approvals and focuses on a 6 MTPA integrated facility.
Saffron Resources Pvt Ltd owns 887 acres of land located in the Dhenkanal in Odisha,, acquired by JSW Steel in 2025 for future steel expansion, securing raw materials and increasing their footprint in Eastern India.
JSW Steel’s expansion plans in Odisha include integrated steel plants across three districts: Keonjhar, Jagatsinghpur, and Dhenkanal. In Keonjhar, a joint venture with South Korea’s POSCO aims for an initial 5-6 MTPA greenfield steel plant, potentially scaling to 13.2 MTPA, with land acquisition underway and an estimated investment of around Rs 35,000 crore.
This project, approved in March 2025, is expected to create 8,000-10,000 jobs and includes ancillary facilities like a cement plant and power generation. In Jagatsinghpur, through JSW Utkal Steel Ltd., the company is developing a 12-13.2 MTPA facility at Paradip (near Gadakujang, Dhinkia, and Nuagaon villages) with Rs 65,000 crore investment, including a captive power plant and port facilities, though it has faced local opposition over land displacement affecting up to 40,000 people.
In Dhenkanal, Saffron Resources Pvt Ltd (a JSW Group entity) plans a 6 MTPA steel plant with Rs 35,000 crore investment, recently approved by Odisha’s High-Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) in early January 2026 as part of a broader Rs 55,783 crore investment package. This is projected to generate about 8,000 jobs.
JSW Steel operates the acquired Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL) plant in Jharsuguda (Thelkoloi village, Sambalpur district), an integrated 3.5 MTPA facility producing hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled sheets, bars, wire rods, and more.
