Kolkata, Nov 12 (UNI) Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Steel, Rasika Chaube today
envisioned the transformation of Eastern India as a potential Integrated Steel Hub through
Mission Purvoday to tap the untapped potential of the region in Engineering and Manufacturing.
Speaking at CII Manufacturing Excellence Conclave here on Friday, Ms Chaube said the
Central Government has chalked out an agenda to accelerate the drive, the initial step being
capacity expansion of Greenfield and Brownfield assets.
With the nation being a forerunner in steel production producing 250 mt of steel by 2030, East
is forseen to contribute 80 - 90 mt, opined Ms Chaube.
As a step ahead towards the vision, Government intends to eliminate the bottlenecks in the
process of expediting investments through creation of land banks, ensuring availability of iron
ores at competitive prices and providing statutory clearances on time. Mission Purvoday is also intended towards establishment of ancillary downstream clusters and value added clusters, she
said.
Ms Chaube said Government has identified 11 zones along with 9 clusters for the purpose
and is all set to launch its pilot steel cluster in Kalinganagar, Odisha. Through collaborative
efforts of Government as well as Private Players, BPNSI is expected to see the light of the
day at Kalinganagar Project.
She said Ministry of Steel is indeed taking keen interest in creation of an enabling environment
for steel sector with the help of other departments through decongestion of ports as Vishakhapatnam,
Dhamra, Subarnarekha along with decongestion of National Waterway 1 and National Waterway 5
to open up avenues for East.
The Ministry envisions the creation of end use demand ecosystem with the help of with PLI
Scheme plus capital goods cluster for further upliftment of the sector. The Government indeed
plans to spend Rs 6322 crore in upcoming 3 years for the transformation of steel sector in India,
Ms Chaube added.
" Manufacturing has to grow across the country, not in pockets ,"opined Vikram Kirloskar,
Past President, CII & Chairman, CII National Manufacturing Council & Chairman and MD,
Kirloskar Systems Ltd and Vice Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
He advocated the promotion of competitive advantage of potential zones in East to
speeden up the leveraging of Purvoday as tip of new wave in the region.
Speaking at the conference, Dr Rene Van Berkel, India Representative, UNIDO, emphasized
on inclusive industrial development agenda. Technical cooperation of UNIDO to India, has aimed
at complementing national priorities and economic policies of the nation. UNIDO’s recent
interventions in India focus on environmental sustainability and the energy sector. These interventions include solid waste management, e-waste, compliance with environmental regulations and renewable energy sources
To further coin all these interventions under the singleumbrella, the notion of “green industry” has
been conceptualized to place sustainable industrial development in the context of new global
sustainable development challenges. Other than spearheading innovation technology for fibre
extraction in paper sector, UNIDO aims at assisting national agenda regarding integration of value chains, adoption of clean technology, enhancement of manufacturing effectiveness to focus on customer value and boosting up of natinal GDP.
"Excellence can be the only hallmark of manufacturing sector in Aatmanirbhar Bharat ,"opined De Berkel. He looks forward to achieving greater milestones in manufacturing sector, working in tandem with CII for reduction of carbon footprint.
Sharing his perspectives on how manufacturing sector can accelerate, ameliorate and automate, Manfred Auster, Consul General, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, encouraged the nation to utilize European Trade Agreement to the fullest capacity, to facilitate seamless international trade relations regarding the sector. With 1800 German companies operational as on
date, Mr Auster is hopeful of flow of investments in times to come.
S K Behera, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, RSB Transmission Ltd, highlighted upon the changing mindset of the manufacturing sector in Eastern Region that speaks volumes about the
growing readiness of the sector to meet the indigenous demand and take advantage of the
anticipated growth.
The extent of growth in manufacturing sector in the Eastern Region depends on faster adoption of game-changing technologies, which can only relink the manufacturing sector with the fast-moving
technological wonders and advanced facilities, he opined.
Sandeep Singh, Chairman, CII ER Manufacturing Committee & Managing Director, Tata Hitachi Machinery & Construction Ltd, foresees Purvodaya as a new tomorrow for Steel Sector, as it underlines the importance of the eastern region of the country in driving national growth. The project
has laid the foundation stones of two important projects namely - Indian Oil’s Paradip-Hyderabad Pipeline Product Project and GAIL’s Bokaro-Angul Pipeline.
" CII strongly agrees with the Government of India’s visions that Eastern Region is well-prepared
for implementing Purvodaya and enabling manufacturing in the Eastern Region," Mr Singh opined.
UNI BM KK