TDP MPs led by Y.S. Chowdary submitted a memorandum to Union Minister for Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh in New Delhi on Saturday seeking directions to the MECON Limited to submit the feasibility report for the Kadapa steel plant on the basis of existing information without waiting for the completion of the G-2 level exploration by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), and immediate action, including the provision of various incentives, for the establishment of the plant.
The delegation comprised C.M. Ramesh, J.C. Diwakar Reddy, Jayadev Galla, Nimmala Kishtappa, Kesineni Srinivas, T.G. Venkatesh, Konakalla Narayana and Thota Seetharama Lakshmi.
The MPs said the State government had requested the MECON Limited at the fourth task force meeting held on June 12 to submit the feasibility report and it sought the current status of the iron ore mines and an assurance on the availability of iron ore linkage without any legal issues.
The State had then communicated that sufficient iron ore was available for running the plant for 30 years and out of eight leases in Anantapur district, three leases would expire by March 31, 2020, and they would be made available for the plant in the natural course.
It was clarified that after the expiry of those leases, the State would allocate the mines under Section 17(A) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
Iron ore reserve
The three leases have an ore reserve of 266 million tonnes at depths ranging from 40 to 130 metres.
The State government had then engaged the GSI to conduct exploratory studies in and around the lease areas and it was found that they possessed good reserves.
In spite of that, the MECON Limited addressed Andhra Pradesh several times to submit the report prepared by the GSI to finalise the feasibility report.
‘Use available info’
The State government observed that since a G-2 study by the GSI was time-consuming — estimated to take two years — the existing information should be used for assessing the feasibility.
Besides, the State government has announced many incentives.
The Ministry of Steel should, therefore, give clearance for the steel plant at the earliest by taking into account the comprehensive data already submitted to it by the State, the MPs requested the Union Steel Minister .
