Equipment of Tata Steel’s plant at Gopalpur Industrial Park. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, Aug. 30: The first consignment of equipment for Tata Steel’s ferro chrome plant at the Gopalpur Industrial Park has arrived. “Work on the project is slated to begin soon,” said a spokesperson for the company.

As anchor investor at the Gopalpur Industrial Park, Tata Steel initially will set up a 55,000 tonnes-per-annum ferro chrome plant and 400,000 tonnes-per-annum steel rebar mill at an estimated investment of Rs 1,000 crore.

Both the units are expected to generate employment for about 1,000 people.

The Union ministry of environment and forests has already accorded environmental clearance to the project. A desalination plant is also proposed to be set up to treat seawater that can be used to meet the requirements of industries that will come up at the industrial park.

The Gopalpur Industrial Park will primarily attract investments from steel and allied downstream industries, heavy engineering and chemical products, among other sectors. The cumulative investment at Gopalpur Industrial Park has been envisaged at Rs 10,000 to 15,000 crore. The industrial park will also create employment opportunities for about 10,000 people, while facilitating industrial development in the region.

“Preliminary work for these projects has already started and the actual work will pick up momentum from next month. The plants are expected to be completed by the end of next year,” said A.K. Ojha, general manager of Gopalpur Industrial Park project.

Tata Steel had acquired 3,700 acres (including 500 acres for a rehabilitation colony) in the mid 1990s for setting up of a 10-MT steel plant in Gopalpur. However, it later shelved the project, following which the land was lying vacant.

The company later proposed to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) on this patch of land. It also obtained an approval in principle from the Centre. “But with proposed changes in tax codes, SEZs have become irrelevant now. We would prefer to develop the land as an industrial park for steel downstream and engineering projects,” said an official of Tata Steel.