Business Standard reported that the India's union ministry of steel and the Odisha government on December 14th agreed to thrash out issues pertaining to forest clearance and land acquisition, the 2 major bottlenecks impeding the progress of major steel projects proposed in the state.
Mr DB Singh director, Union ministry of steel told the media after holding talks with Mr BK Patnaik chief secretary of Odisha and other top state officials that "Land acquisition and forest clearance have emerged as 2 major bottlenecks for steel projects in Odisha. These issues figured in our talks. We discussed on overcoming the hurdles for steel projects."
Mr Patnaik said that no company specific issue was discussed at the meeting.
He said that "The discussions broadly center on forest clearance and land acquisition for steel projects. There were no discussions on individual steel companies."
Steel makers both in public and private sector were awaiting action from the state government on a host of issues ranging from clearance for mines and allotment of new mines to acquisition of land for proposed steel projects.