[Reader-list] Impact of iron-ore mining for steel investments in eastern India

[hpp at vsnl.com]

Dear Friends

A friend pointed out to me yesterday that with the whole gamut of steel 
sector investments planned in eastern India (West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand,
Chattisgarh) - meeting the iron-ore requirements for this is going to mean a 
hideous rape of the environment of the iron-ore rich states of Orissa, 
Jharkhand and Chattisgarh.

These are also the areas populated by adivasi communities.

The iron-ore mining operations may be expected to have a serious destructive 
socio-cultural and environmental impact.

Among the steel plants coming up:

Orissa has signed around 45 memoranda of understanding for setting up steel 
capacities aggregating 60 million tonnes within the next few years. Leading 
the pack is Korean steel giant POSCO which is setting up a 12-mtpa steel 
plant near Paradeep in Jagatsinghpur district.

Other players who are setting up steel capacities in Orissa include Tata 
Steel, Jindal Stainless, Jindal Steel & Power, Bhushan Steel, Uttam Galva, 
Visa Steel and Welspun, among others.

Tata Steel proposes to increase its steel making capacity to 33-34 mtpa by 
2015, besides increasing the capacity of its Jamshedpur plant from 5 mtpa to
10 mtpa. In addition, the Tatas are planning to set up a 12-mtpa greenfield 
project in Jharkhand, a 6-mtpa plant in in Jajpur district of Orissa 
(Kalinganagar), and another 5 mtpa capacity unit in Chhattisgarh.

Mittal Steel has announced a 12-mtpa greenfield steel project in Jharkhand 
and a 12-mtpa greenfield steel plant in Orissa.

Jindal Steel's Rs 10,000-crore steel plant in West Bengal, with initial 
capacity of four million tonnes, to be expanded to 10 mt in due course.

V Ramaswamy
Calcutta
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