Karnataka to notify land for Mittal plant at Bellary today

Karnataka to notify land for Mittal plant at Bellary today

Bangalore, Feb 5 (PTI) DH News :

Karnataka will set in motion today the process of acquiring 4,800 acres in Bellary for the mega steel plant being set up by ArcelorMittal, a top official said.

"The government has approved the land acquisition at Kudathini in Bellary district and the preliminary notification will be issued tomorrow in the state gazette", state principal industry secretary VP Baligar told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

ArcelorMittal plans to set up a Rs 30,000-crore steel plant with 6mtpa capacity and also a 750mw captive power generation unit, he said.

"We had kept everything ready. Their team visited the place for third time yesterday and said these villages are fine. As soon as they gave me the green signal this morning, we got the approval from chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and we have notified these lands", he said.

Mittal had evinced interest in 4,800 acres located near a Karnataka Power Corporation project, Baligar said adding the land is ready and "we will lend immediately to Mittal."

The Mittal investment would entail job generation of over 10,000 in the long-term, he said.

Mittal's firm had earlier evinced interest to locate their plant at Bijapur, but later chose Bellary, an iron ore rich district, which the government accepted.

Replying to a question on Korean Posco Steel's interest in setting up a plant in the state, Baligar said, "a team had come, they had discussions and we are hopeful. The company was looking at land around Bellary. "But they have not decided".

On mines for these steel plants, he said some mining area in Bellary has been notified. Other mines are also open for application. "They have applied and it has to be decided," he said. In terms of provision of water, he said part of it will come from the Tunghabadra dam and other from the Upper Krishna.

Meanwhile he also said Hero Honda evinced interest to set up a plant entailing an investment of Rs 200 crore, he said, "a team had come, they have seen three sites, one in Hubli and two in Dharwad".

The Hero Honda would require 100 acres for themselves, and 200 acres for ancillaries and may be 100 acres for a township in the long term too, he said, adding however that nothing has been finalised.

Egyptian company Kapsci Coating, which was interested in seeting up a plant for paints, had also been looking for land near Bangalore. "They have seen two-three sites, they will get back to us", he said.

ArcelorMittal zeroes in on Bellary for 6-mt steel unit

ArcelorMittal zeroes in on Bellary for 6-mt steel unit

BS Reporter / Bangalore February 6, 2010, 0:55 IST

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, has finalised Kuditini near Bellary in east-central Karnataka to set up its Rs 30,000-crore, 6-million tonne per annum steel plant. A team of company officials visited the site yesterday and indicated they needed 4,900 acres, a senior state government official said.

“The company had earlier shortlisted a place in Bijapur district to set up their plant. But, after visiting the state for the third time, a team of officials from the company today informed us that they want to locate their plant in Kuditini. After discussing the matter with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, we have agreed to provide them land at this place,” V P Baligar, principal secretary, industries and commerce, said today.

A team from Posco, the South Korean steel giant, has also visited Bellary district to look for a project location but haven’t decided.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here, he said the government would provide water for the steel plant from the Tungabhadra dam in Bellary district and the Alamatti dam in Bijapur district. The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board had already issued a preliminary notification to acquire the land at Kuditini, he said.

The state government has identified 300 hectares of iron ore mines for the company in Bellary district, he said.

The company will sign a memorandum of understanding with the state government during the latter’s global investors’ meet on June 3. The government has invited L N Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal, to be the chief guest at the meet, said Baligar.

The High-Level Clearance Committee headed by the chief minister had cleared ArcelorMittal’s proposal in January. In November last year, a high-level team led by their group board member, Sudhir Maheshwari, and executive vice president, Vijay Kumar Bhatnagar, had discussions with the chief minister, industries minister and officials to discuss the project. The team had visited three locations.

Baligar said investment in setting up ancillary units by small and medium enterprises around the new steel plant was likely to be Rs 25,000 crore.

He said a team of officials from Hero Honda had visited three places in the Hubli-Dharwad area in north-west Karnataka to locate their first manufacturing plant in South India. Last week, the team visited Gamanagatti near Hubli airport, Mummigatti and Narendra near Dharwad. The company requires about 100 acres for their plant, 200 acres for an ancillary park and another 60 acres for their township, he said.

Wipro Technologies has applied for allotment of 50 acres near Bangalore International Airport to establish a software technology park. The state government has given an in-principle approval to their proposal, said Baligar.

Hero Honda Motors has inspected three sites in Hubli-Dharwad industrial belt

Hero Honda Motors has inspected three sites in Hubli-Dharwad industrial belt

5 Feb 2010, 2123 hrs IST, IANS

In a related development, a technical team of Hero Honda Motors Ltd has inspected three sites in Hubli-Dharwad industrial belt in north Karnataka to set up a two-wheeler plant at an estimated cost of Rs.20 billion (Rs.2,000 crore).

"We have shown two sites near Hubli and another near Dharwad adjacent to Tata Motors bus plant. The company is looking for about 100 acres to set up the two-wheeler plant and another 200 acres for ancillary units and a township," Baligar said on the margins of a conclave on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Hubli-Dharwad is about 420 km from Bangalore.

The world's largest motorcycle firm evinced keen interest to locate its first southern plant in Karnataka when its top officials met state's large and medium industries minister Murugesh Nirani in New Delhi last week at a road-show held for the Global Investors' Meet to be held in Bangalore June first week.