Steel producers to meet CM for coal

Kolkata : Steel industrialists will urge the chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee to distribute coal blocks among them. Of the six blocks received from the ministry of coal, the former Left Front government had allotted three blocks to JSW Bengal (reserve 755 million tons) and two blocks to Jai Balaji industries (reserve 449 million tons) forcing other steel manufacturers to import coal from Australia and Indonesia. This has caused a sharp rise in the production cost. The industrialists alleged that despite repeated requests the former chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the industries minister Mr Nirupam Sen refused to change this policy. Interestingly, both the companies are yet to start production and construction of plants has not started.

The former Left Front government, particularly Mr Bhattacharjee and Mr Sen, favoured JSW and Jai Balaji industries by allotting them coal blocks in Burdwan district. In 2007 JSW bagged coal reserves at Kulti (210 tons), Sitarampur (210 tons) and Ichhapur (334 tons). Jai Balaji got Jaganathpur A (273 tons) and Jaganathpur (176 tons) taking the total to 449 metric tons. JSW was to manufacture 10 metric tons of steel per year and power generation would be 1600 MW. Jai Balaji is to produce five tons of steel per year, three tons of cement and 1215 MW power. Steel manufacturers said that the two agencies ~ WBIDC and WBMDTC ~ which were supposed to decide eligibility criteria of competing industries to receive coal blocks became mere puppets in the hands of Mr Nirupam Sen. sns