BHUBANESWAR: Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday reviewed the progress of the Angul aluminium park.Pradhan said the project should be completed as early as possible as it would promote downstream industries and attract investment to the State.“The aluminium park will enhance the industrial competitiveness of the aluminium industry, help in creation of aluminium clusters, create job opportunities, further develop the mineral sector, boost the State’s economy and contribute to the overall vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Pradhan tweeted after a video conferencing with senior officers of the State Government and Nalco.
The proposed park, dropped by the apex committee of Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS) in November 2018, was revived following Pradhan’s intervention with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries.In December last year, Pradhan had written a letter to Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal seeking his personal intervention to restart the project, which had been approved in August 2015.
The project, a joint venture between Nalco and IDCO, is being developed at a cost of `99.60 crore including a Central grant of `33.44 crore. The proposed facility, spread over an area of 223 acre, was scheduled to be completed by July 2020. However, the prolonged lockdown derailed the desired progress.
Chairman-cum-managing director of Nalco Sridhar Patra, IDCO CMD Sanjay Singh and other top officials of the State Government were present.