Tata pitches in for Posco’s roads

Despite being a potential rival of Posco, Ratan Tata, as chairman of the Investment Commission, has taken active interest in ensuring that c...

Despite being a potential rival of Posco, Ratan Tata, as chairman of the Investment Commission, has taken active interest in ensuring that crucial infrastructure such as roads are in place for the South Korean steel major’s $12 billion steel venture in Orissa.

These roads, categorised, as ‘‘roads of economic importance’’, are crucial for ensuring movement of goods from the project site to the port and back. These roads would also ensure smooth movement of goods from the plant site to other locations in the country as well as of raw materials from mines to the project site.

Sources said Tata informed Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the importance of these roads for the steel major after which the FM himself wrote to the road transport, highways and shipping minister TR Baalu to facilitate the speedy and timely implementation of these road projects.

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While Posco’s project would be located in Paradeep in Jagatsinghpur district, the mines are located in the districts of Keonjhar and Sundargarh, which are closer to Jharkhand.

Therefore, as many as five road projects, covering a distance of over 500 km, will be built by 2009 at an estimated cost of around Rs 2,000 crore for which funding would mostly come from the Centre. The developers for four of these projects could approach the Centre for grant under viability gap funding as they would be executed under the BoT route.

The Orissa government would be required to pitch in only 50 per cent of the funds needed for a Rs 105 crore road project connecting Barhmanipal to Keonjhar (a distance of around 60 km) with the balance again coming from the Central government.

In fact, a special approval for additional funds was sought from the Planning Commission as the project cost exceeded what was available for roads of economic importance. Sources told The Indian Express that the Planning Commission has given its nod as well.

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In addition to this, the road transport ministry would soon approach the Union Cabinet to get its approval for a new 99 km Duburi to Talcher road project on NH 200.

Apart from these two projects, the other road projects that are crucial for the Posco project include the Chandikhol to Paradeep port connectivity project covering a length of 77 km on NH 5 A.

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