Sambalpur: Jharsuguda - once known as a major industrial town of west Odisha - is gradually turning into a "ghost town" with the closure of industries one after another.
The closure of several small and medium industries for various reasons has thrown hundreds of people out of jobs here.
The Jharsuguda region once showed a great potential for setting up industries with the availability of raw materials, easy labour and easy railway connectivity. Several industries flourished here, leading to a rapid growth in the area that provided employment to many, while also facilitating establishment of ancillary units. After Rourkela, Jharsuguda had become the most promising destination for industries because of the region's easy railway connectivity with the rest of the country, presence of abundant coal and adequate water from the Hirakud reservoir and availability of easy labour.
Apart from giant industries, such as Vedanta Aluminium Ltd and Bhushan Steel and Power Plant, medium-size factories, such as SMC Power Generation Ltd, MSP Metallicks Private Ltd, Seven Star Sponge Iron Unit, Jai Hanuman Ispat, Madhav Ispat, Concast Steel and and Power Ltd and Singhal Sponge Iron Unit set up their factories, among many others. Auxiliary industries also flourished subsequently to support the main industries. Local economy flourished and so did the employment opportunities for both the experienced and fresh local youths.
But the factories in operation no longer find it economically viable to run the business due to "increase in cost of production" among several other reasons. The management of Bhushan Steel and Power has decided to sell its establishment and has already started making negotiations with few companies to that effect. Scarcity of raw materials, high production cost and a sharp fall in the demand of steel were the alleged reasons that made these industries sick.
The president of the Chambers of Commerce of Jharsuguda, Hiralal Bhai, told The Telegraph that rise in the cost of raw materials and fall in the rates of steel in the international market were the main reasons behind the closure of the steel industries in the region. At the same time, the maintenance cost and wages of employees have increased putting further burden on the management, he added.
Without wanting to be identified, a businessman associated with materials supply to the industries of Jharsuguda told The Telegraph that many steel industries were collecting raw materials - such as iron ore and coal - illegally without paying taxes for a long time. But the inflow of such illegally-obtained raw materials was checked all of a sudden with the state government acting tough on the violation and ensuring strict checking of ore-laden materials in the region. As the tax-evading illegal materials became scarce, it also impacted the profits of the factory owners. This was another reason for the companies to shut their establishments.
As the management have chosen to lock most of the plants, no factory owners were available for comment. Only the security personnel are seen guarding the plants in most parts of the town.
The closure of heavy industries have impacted other businesses in the region as well. Hotels, constructed with the help of bank loans, are lying vacant as there are no visitors to the industrial town. This is making it difficult for hotel owners to repay their loans. As a result, many youths are being thrown into unemployment.
