Delegation representing the integrated steel players of India met Odisha Chief Secretary

BHUBANESHWAR: A delegation comprising Tata Steel’s TV Narendran and JSPL’s Naveen Jindal representing the integrated steel players of India met Odisha Chief Secretary on Thursday, in an effort to get their raw material and infrastructural issues addressed.

Chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati and JSPL’s Jindal expressed concern that rising steel imports from China, Japan and Korea is causing losses for most steel companies here. In Odisha, where steel companies have invested 1,25,000 crores, are mostly in bad shape.

Representatives of Essar Steel, Jindal Stainless, MESCO, Bhusan Power & Steel Ltd and Bhushan Steel were also present as members of the new Indian Steel Association.

The association also wants the government to reduce the District Mineral Fund, a tax equal to royalty, currently at 15%, introduced under the New MMDR Amendment bill, “to lessen the burden on the steel industry”.

Tata Steel MD Narendran admitted that the steel industry is going through tough times and needed the government’s backing on raw material and infrastructure issues.

“The main objective was to introduce ourselves as an association and set the agenda for future discussion,” he said. Tata Steel’s 3-mt Kalinganagar plant will begin commercial production before the end of the year.

The industry wants state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation to enhance supply and allocate ore only to those having MoUs with the state. It also pushed for implementing e-auction of road transportation contracts to check “cartelization” of transporters that was leading to “unrealistic logistics costs”.

It also wants to pay water charges as per actual use, and not allocation-based, and a waiver of the one-time infrastructure charge of Rs 2.5 crore per cusec.