Cuttack, March 4: Kalinga Iron Works Limited (KIWL), the pioneering pig iron plant in the state, which was set up by the late Biju Patnaik 57 years ago, continues to face an uncertain future as the state government's disinvestment plan is yet to take off.
The future of the wholly-owned subsidiary of state government undertaking - Industrial Development Corporation Limited (Idcol) - looks all the more uncertain as the tender invited for divestment of the KIWL, which had stopped production nearly a year ago, is still awaiting response from central PSUs.
Set up on 570 acres by Biju with German technological assistance in 1959, the KIWL is situated in the midst of richest iron ore and manganese ore deposits in Keonjhar district in the municipal area of Barbil.
The company was taken over by state government in 1963 and declared a state-run subsidiary company of Idcol in 2002. The cabinet committee had opted for taking the disinvestment route in September 2010 as the KIWL had been incurring losses since 2008-09.
Since 2011, efforts were on to continue production and keep the company in operation till the disinvestment process happens. However, operational losses led to shut down of the plant for nine months during 2012-13 and eight months during 2013-14.
"Operation at the plant was stopped on March 1, 2015, as we were running out of funds. The future of the KIWL will only become clear after March 15," KIWL's managing director M.K. Palo told The Telegraph.
The KIWL had been producing foundry-grade pig iron with installed capacity of 1.8 lakh tonnes per annum. It also manufactured cast iron pipes with an installed capacity of 31,200 tonnes per annum.
In another development, Idcol has been implementing voluntary retirement scheme for the around 700 regular employees of the company. Trade union leaders expressed regret that the state government could not run the KIWL despite having its own mines and other facilities.
"The government can go for a joint venture of the Odisha Mining Corporation and Idcol in case the central PSU disinvestment route fails," said Rajendra Prasad Singh, national vice-president and state president of Hind Mazdoor Sangh.
