West Bengal steel units face coal, iron ore hurdles

Kolkata, Dec 5 : The West Bengal Government is keen to develop mega steel projects in the state to boost the development of downstream and ancillary industries, said state industry minister Nirupam Sen.

He was speaking at a steel conclave organized by the CII, West Bengal State Council here.

Sen said the state government in its bid to develop mega projects is planning to set up steel parks which in the long run is expected to boost downstream industries and generate ample employment.

However, the minister said unavailability of iron ore and lack of coal linkage in the state is creating a lot of hindrance to the state's steel projects which are in the pipeline, especially the higher grade ones.

For developing steel projects, the plants need to have captive power plants of their own for which coal is a major requirement but presently West Bengal has only 6 coal blocks and pursuing for another 9 in order to get a good coal linkage.

Sen informed that the Union Government is planning to go for an open auction of coal blocks and rued that auctioning of coal blocks may mean that the same could be taken away by entities outside the state through bidding with Bengal steel projects.

He said the Bengal projects thus might miss the chance despite having good coal reserves within the state territory.

He said for iron ore, another raw material for steel industry, West Bengal is highly dependent on neighboring states who are not keen to allow steel makers to take iron ore from them and develop steel projects in Bengal.

However, as per the Minister, talks with the Union Government are on to resolve these issues.