Mode of RINL land transfer not yet decided: Steel Min
11,794 acre of private land was acquired by the State Government for the steel project in various stages in the name of the Ministry of Steel and remaining 9,798 acre of Government land was also transferred for this project totalling to 21,592 acre
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Visakhapatnam: The Centre has not yet taken any decision on mode of transfer of lands belonging to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, which has been identified for strategic disinvestment.
Steel Minister RCP Singh in response to a question by Lok Sabha members K Ram Mohan Naidu and Kesineni Srinivas said on Wednesday that the acquisition of land for Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was done by Government of Andhra Pradesh as per the Visakhapatnam Steel Project (Acquisition of Lands) Act, 1972, which provided that the State Government of Andhra Pradesh may acquire any land in the Project area for project purpose and for any purpose incidental to or connected with the Visakhapatnam Steel Project.
The Minister told the MPs that accordingly, 11,794 acre of private land was acquired by the State Government for the steel project in various stages in the name of the Ministry of Steel and remaining 9,798 acre of Government land was also transferred for this project totalling to 21,592 acre. Subsequently, a Power of Attorney was executed by the Ministry of Steel in favour of RINL/VSP in 1983.
Later, land to the extent of 2,588.90 acre was given to various agencies, namely Railways, Government of Andhra Pradesh for Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL) & NHAI. Presently, 19,703.1 acre of land is under possession of RINL/VSP for the purposes of the steel project. The Minister said steel production has been going on since 1992 at RINL-VSP.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), in its meeting held on 27.01.2021, has accorded 'in-principle' approval for 100 per cent disinvestment of Government of India shareholding in RINL along with RINL's stake in its subsidiaries/joint ventures through strategic disinvestment by way of privatisation.
The Minister clarified that the 'project purpose' under proposed disinvestment would not change and no decision yet on mode of transfer of land has been taken.
This strategic disinvestment of Government of India's equity in RINL would lead to infusion of capital for optimum utilisation, expansion of capacity, infusion of appropriate technology and better management practices with resultant higher production and productivity and expansion of direct and indirect employment opportunities. These measures will help realise the true potential of RINL leading to a much greater contribution to the economic growth of the nation thereby serving a larger public purpose.
Singh said RINL has not increased its profits during the last ten years. He disclosed that RINL incurred cumulative losses to the tune of Rs 7,122.25 crore. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Steel has endorsed
the requests of RINL to various State Governments viz Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh by recommending reservation of iron ore deposits under Section 17A (2A) of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act, 2015 to the Ministry of Mines, Government of India.
The Minister said the Ministry of Steel has also requested the Government of Odisha for reservation of an iron ore block in favour of RINL. RINL has also been participating in allocation of iron ore mines through e-auction route.
