Bhubaneswar, Sep 22 (Inditop.com) Tata Steel, which has proposed to set up a Rs.21,000-crore plant in Orissa’s Kalinganagar, Tuesday said the land acquisition process for the project would be completed soon and work would start by December.
“We hope that the land issues will be resolved soon. We hope to start work on the project by December,” Binay Kumar Singh, vice-president of the Orissa project, told reporters here.
Tata has been facing stiff resistance from local residents against acquiring land for the six-million-tonne per annum project. The mega project suffered a major setback Jan 2, 2006, when 13 tribals were killed in a police firing.
“But let me tell you, we don’t want any confrontation keeping in view of the sensitive nature of the issue. We want to forget the past and start the project in an amicable way with the cooperation of local people,” Kumar said.
“The rehabilitation work is going on. The state government has also come forward.”
The official, however, did not give any definite date for commencing the project.
“I don’t give a definite date, but we hope things would be resolved by December and we will start work soon,” Singh said.
The steel major needed 3,500 acres for the project and the government has allotted 3,040 acres. But the company is yet to take physical possession of the land due to resistance from the local residents.
