By IANS,
Kolkata : The Rs.350 billion integrated steel plant at Salboni in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, proposed by Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel, will “restart” from August this year, a state minister said Tuesday.
The Mamata Banerjee-led state government is also planning to rework the agreement with “a few other” industrial units, said state Commerce and Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee.
The government held talks with senior officials of JSW Steel over a supplementary development agreement, which includes compensation package for the land losers and a lease deed with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) for 189 acres.
“There has not been any construction work at the site since 2007. So, we have to take that into consideration. And the new agreement will be signed on Aug 9,” Chatterjee told media persons on the sidelines of the 84th annual general meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here.
The proposed 10 million-tonne steel plant was conceived in 2007. JSW Steel had signed a development agreement with the erstwhile Left Front government in January 2007, and was handed over possession of the land a year after.
“The deliverables have been worked out and a new time frame for the project completion has also been worked out,” the minister said.
He informed that there were a few other projects which were also under consideration.
Stating that the state government had received investment proposals worth Rs.1 lakh crore from 179 companies in the last one year, Chatterjee said: “Companies like Steel Authority of India, Burn Standard, Tractors India Ltd have shown interest in the state.”
The government is also working on an ambitious plan to upgrade 4,500 km single lane state highway to double lane.
State Finance Minister Amit Mitra said a consultancy firm, which was appointed for the purpose, would submit a report within three months time.
“We have formed State Highway Corporation Ltd for the work Such an infrastructure project will boost the logistics support in the state,” Mitra said.
He informed that six more airports were also being planned for the future growth of the state.