Several prominent leaders of the ruling TRS representing key constituencies in the erstwhile undivided Khammam district have stepped up their efforts to set up an integrated steel plant at the power generation hub of Palvancha in the mineral-rich district.
There has been a long pending demand for setting up an integrated steel factory at Bayyaram, which is now part of the newly formed Mahabubabad district. A team from Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has conducted a feasibility study in some of the locations in the undivided Khammam district over two years ago as mandated by the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.The team has reportedly identified the requirement of 200 million tonnes of specified grade iron ore, sources said.
According to sources, the State has an estimated 302 million tonnes of iron ore of various grades as per the Geographical Survey of India (GSI) preliminary reports.
Even as uncertainty continues to prevail over the prospects of setting up the steel factory at Bayyaram amid reports that the requisite grade of iron ore reserves available in the State were not adequate, some of the key ruling party leaders of the district have taken a lead role in projecting Palvancha as the ideal location for the plant.
Khammam MP Srinivas Reddy and Kothagudem MLA J. Venkat Rao on Tuesday gave a memorandum to Union Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh in New Delhi seeking establishment of the steel plant by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) at Palvancha with iron ore supplies from Balladilla mines in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
The two leaders apprised the Union Minister of the locational advantages of Palvancha and the requisite infrastructure and vast road network available in the power hub dotted with several major industries.
