By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI:BJD MP Dr Sasmit Patra says, “It is a very sad and shameful development that the ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel plants, which were originally planned for Odisha, are now being shifted to Andhra Pradesh. When Naveen Patnaik was the Chief Minister of Odisha, he travelled to Japan and signed an MoU with Nippon Steel.
Consequently, Nippon Steel was set to build its own steel plant in Odisha.The second most critical issue is that Odisha’s minerals will be transported to Andhra Pradesh via a slurry pipeline.
‘If every steel plant and industry moves out of Odisha, and our minerals and coal are exported through such pipelines, nothing will be left for the state. It is wrong for steel plants to be established in other states while using Odisha’s resources instead of developing them here. I believe if Lakshmi Mittal wants to produce steel, he should do so in Odisha rather than taking our minerals to Andhra Pradesh.” Dr Patra said.
AMNS was exploring two greenfield plants in Odisha for up to 24 MT capacity with a ₹1 lakh crore investment but nothing has happened yet while massive irregularities have been reported from AMNS mines in Odisha’s Keonjhar-Sundargarh region. Mining activities going on without statutory forest clearances.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Y.S. Sharmila took on AMNS steel plant project proposed in Anakapalli district and questioned the ‘massive concessions’ reportedly given to the company, including tax exemptions, subsidised electricity, water supply and a captive port.
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) India laid the foundation for its new 8.2 million tonne (MT) integrated steel plant at Rajayyapeta in Anakapalli district, Andhra Pradesh. The project will cost over ₹70,000 crore, which will be infused in a phased manner.
AMNS India is already operating an 8 MT pellet plant in Visakhapatnam, and a port. Slurry pipeline connecting Kirandul in Chhattisgarh to Visakhapatnam has been moving iron ore for years.
