Ballari: After successfully persuading Hero MotoCorp to opt for Chittoor instead of Dharwad, the Chandrababu Naidu government is now believed to be bringing pressure on the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) to shift its proposed steel plant from Ballari to Seemandhra.
According to reliable industry sources, the neighbouring state is making serious attempts to persuade the Union government to give up its plans to establish the three million tonne per annum capacity steel plant in Bellary and opt for Seemandhra instead.
Besides using the fact that the ruling Telugu Desam Party is an ally of the BJP at the Centre, the Naidu government is also reportedly offering more sops to the NMDC in terms of land and water to help it change its mind.
The Karnataka government had on May 7 issued the final notification for acquiring 3,000 acres of land for the NMDC and it is currently in the process of acquiring it through the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) near Ballari for the steel plant which is expected to cost around Rs. 18,000 crore to establish.
The company has already deposited Rs. 158.68 crore with KIADB as the tentative cost of the land plus service charges and engaged MECON as consultant to prepare the techno-economic feasibility report for the project. It has also received the necessary approvals for supply of water and power from the state government.
But NMDC has had no success yet in finding a partner with expertise in steel-making for its Ballari project.
After its talks with Japanese steel major, Nippon Steel, fell through, NMDC entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russia's Severstal to run the Ballari steel mill in a joint venture in late 2010. But Severstal opted out as NDMC was not willing to let it have a majority stake in the plant.
