Shimla: A high level team from the steel ministry headed by steel secretary Atul Chaturvedi, is scheduled to meet state government officials for expediting the setting up of two steel processing plants and mining unit for extracting steel grade limestone.
The high powered delegation from steel ministry on Monday is schedule to meet chief secretary Asha Swarup so as to finalize setting up a steel processing plant by SAIL at Kandrori in Kangra district and at Nahan in Sirmaur district, said a spokesman for the ministry.
Besides the delegation would also broach the subject of National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC) starting high grade limestone mining from Arki in Solan for purpose of steel production, he said. The lesser grade lime is proposed to be supplied to the nearby Ambuja plant for cement production.
Only recently, NMDC and SAIL had entered into an MOU for suing the Arki mined limestone towards steel production. The mining area is estimated to hold about 100 million tons of high grade limestone.
While a site has been allocated for setting up a steel processing unit at Kandrori – Kangra, the state government has still to finalize the proposal of setting up another such plant where the Nahan Foundry existed earlier.
The now defunct foundry was counted among one of the oldest such steel plants in the country and SAIL has prepared a preliminary project report for starting a steel processing plant there.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
Excellent move ! It is indeed required for H.P. to enter into Steel Business (industry) because the demand for Steel is expected (sure) to grow in the coming years. However, to ensure that the big one and downstream idustries are being setup, it is important for the government to take initial steps and ensure the logistic issues do not come as a hurdle.