The long-anticipated expansion of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) is set to gain momentum, with the Centre and Odisha government agreeing to fast-track the land acquisition process and form a high-level committee for its implementation.
Plans are also afoot to set up an airport at Rourkela, located in the tribal-dominated Sundargarh district of western Odisha.
The expansion, which will double RSP’s production capacity from 4.5 million tonnes to 9 million tonnes, is considered strategically crucial for India’s steel sector as well as the industrial and socio-economic growth of Odisha and the eastern region.
These decisions were taken at a meeting between Union steel and heavy industries minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi at the Lok Seva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. Union tribal affairs minister and Sundargarh MP Jual Oram, the (Steel Authority of Inida Limited) SAIL chairman and senior officials were also present.
“We discussed the functioning of RSP, its planned expansion and key issues related to boosting steel and mining production in Odisha,” Kumaraswamy posted on social media after the meeting. “The chief minister assured full support from the state government in our collective efforts to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of achieving 300MT steel capacity by 2030. Together, we are committed to strengthening Odisha’s leadership in the steel sector.”
Kumaraswamy also visited RSP earlier in the day. “Our steel plants continue to play a pivotal role in nation-building, both in production and in people’s welfare,” he said.
Chief minister Majhi assured that the land acquisition would be undertaken with public consent. “The RSP expansion is the need of the hour. It will generate employment opportunities and spur economic development in the region,” he said.
It was decided that a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Odisha’s additional chief secretary will coordinate the land acquisition process. This panel will work in tandem with a central committee formed by the Union ministry of steel, comprising senior ministry officials, to resolve issues at the local level.
This is the second high-level meeting on the matter this year. In June, a similar review was chaired by Kumaraswamy in New Delhi, where Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram had pushed for removing bottlenecks in the expansion plan.
At the time, Pradhan had said: “The expansion will boost our steel production capacity, strengthen India’s position in the global steel market, reduce imports, cater to the needs of key industrial sectors, catalyse Odisha’s economy, drive growth and create large-scale jobs in steel and allied sectors, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for Purvodaya.”
India’s current steel production capacity stands at around 205 million tonnes annually, with a target to reach 300 million tonnes by 2030-31.
The expansion of RSP, one of the oldest public sector steel plants under SAIL, is expected to play a key role in meeting that target and solidifying eastern India’s contribution to the national steel economy.