Calcutta Notebook
I C
Euphoria over MoU is vanIshing, rather quickly. In most
states MoUs are gathering dust, only to be discarded once and for all. And the scenario is nowhere so pathetic as in West Bengal. Everybody now understands MoU doesn’t necessarily mean advancement in industrialisation. Recent trends indicate that industrialists are more interested in land, not industrialisation of the state where they have succeeded in acquiring land even by evicting small and poor peasants. The much-hyped Rs 35k crore Salbani Steel Project of the Jindals now looks a non-starter. The erstwhile Left Front Government hailed it as a hope for millions. For all practical purposes it is unlikely to take off anytime in the near future. India’s carpet baggers do hardly consider essential pre-requisites before announcing their pet projects.
Salbani being located in a semi-amid region of West Midnapore district, is not a good site for a giant steel plant. Basic raw materials apart, scarcity of water in and around Salbani, is the main obstacle for setting up such a steel complex. Steel mill and the township that will spring up around the mill would require huge amount of fresh water daily. ‘Tata Steel’ has its Dimna lake while Durgapur Steel Plant has the barrage. Neither the government nor the Jindals gave any serious thought to how to procure water for such a huge project. They thought they could transport water from the river Rupnarayan flowing more than 20 miles away in the east. It was totally unrealistic to decide on a steel mill dependent on the Rupnarayan’s water. River Rupnarayan itself is dying. There is not enough flow in the lean months, particularly in summer. Last year Kolaghat Thermal Power Station situated on the western bank of Rupnarayan, faced acute shortage of water to run all the units, even to their reduced capacity. Water, rather non-availability of sufficient water, froced the authorities, to frequently resort to shut-down, crippling the already precarious power supply position. When a thermal power plant requiring not much water, faces crisis and shutdown, it is simply next to impossible for a steel mill to go on steam by relying on the river Rupnarayan.
When the Jindals mooted the idea of a giant steel plant at Salbani with a lot of fan fare, they talked of importing iron ore—the basic raw material. As they failed to have any mining concession in the eastern region, they had no option but to depend on import which was again not viable for more than one reason. Japan once selected Kiriburu Iron Ore Mines in Singhbhum for their immediate ores requirement and Haldia Port including the Kharagpur-Haldia railway line, was basically developed to cater the Japanese steel industry. But finally Japan opted for high grade Australian ores while abandoning Kiriburu.
Steel mills in eastern India—Jamshedpur, Burnpur, Durgapur and Rourkela—all have their captive iron ores and manganese ores mines in the Singhbhum-Keonjhar belt while Dhanbad-Jharia region supplies coal, fire-clay and all that. And they have their perennial sources of water without which plants, ancillaries and townships are simply unthinkable. Not that the Jindals didn’t know the handicaps they would have to face at Salbani for setting up a giant steel mill. They were interested in land and they got it while promising a million jobs that will never be realised.
Bengal may have to shutdown some of its ongoing industrial ventures because of shortage of water. Some of West Bengal Government owned thermal power plants have been witnessing teething troubles since the late seventies. One of the ill-conceived power plants Bengal government is coping with is Santaldih Thermal Power Plant. It is located in the arid region of Purulia and it has no water sources in its vicinity. It gets its water from Tenughat Dam situated in another state Bihar, now Jharkhand. In reality Santaldih plant was initially conceived by DVC, a central government enterprise. Thus DVC had no legal complexities in managing its unit otherwise dependent on two states and Tenughat Dam itself was under DVC’s control. But finding its viability not strong enough, DVC called it a day without even laying the foundation stone. But WB State Electricity Board found in it a prize catch and went ahead with the project.
Asked about Santaldih’s handicapped existence, because of water shortage, one technician reportedly opined in favour of recycling water. Despite technological advancement recycled water is no solution to perennial water crisis and vulnerability due to other state’s whims. And DVC has been a bone of contention between Bengal and Jharkhand as the latter wants its head office to be located in Jharkhand, not Bengal. ‘Santaldih’ is a thermal power plant without any water source of its own. They want industry and, locational disadvantage is not their headache. Even if the Jindals manage to import iron ores for their Salbani plant, it won’t be viable for the simple reason that they wont’s get sufficient water from the river Rupnarayan. Jindals apart, most industrialists who have acquired land in the name of high-sounding industrial ventures, never really conducted proper techno-economic survey. They just grabbed land which they could sell or develop as real estates in the future. Salbani may be ideal for sal plantation, not for a giant steel complex.
Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 46, May 26-June 1, 2013
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