Mission Purvodaya will drive India's march towards $5 trillion economy

Mr Pradhan, while speaking on the occasion, said, “Whether it is our freedom movement or social reform, eastern India has provided leadership to the nation. Eastern India is a land of infinite opportunities.

Despite being endowed with natural resources, this region has lagged in socio-economic development as compared to some other parts of the country. Today, we start Purvodaya in the steel sector, a new chapter which will script the rise of eastern India by accelerated development of steel sector through an integrated steel hub.”

Speaking about the Government’s efforts to develop eastern India, he said, “Our Government under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given the unprecedented focus on the development of eastern India. About half of aspirational districts are in this region which is becoming hotspots of socio-economic development. Our Government has come up with  Rs. 102 lakh crore worth of National Infrastructure Pipeline. Whether it is pipelines, inland waterway, shipping, air or road, our Government is building infrastructure at an unprecedented pace. Eastern India holds special focus in our infrastructure development efforts.”

Stressing on the significance of technology, Mr Pradhan said, “21st century is going to be the age of knowledge and technology. New technologies are reshaping the economy and society. Industry 4.0 driven by digitization holds immense promise. Embrace of Industry 4.0 by manufacturing in steel sector will ensure eastern India benefits from the wave of Industrial Revolution 4.0.”

The minister said “Ease of Doing Business" is not merely a slogan for the Modi government. "From setting up companies to regulatory clearances, taxation etc. our Government has worked on every aspect of improving the Ease of doing business. Recently, our Government came up with perhaps the biggest ever reform in the coal sector. More revenue, more production and logistic development in the coal sector will further fuel the growth of Eastern India,” he stated.

Purvodaya in the steel sector is aimed at driving accelerated development of Eastern India through the establishment of an integrated steel hub. Eastern states of India (Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal) and Northern part of Andhra Pradesh collectively hold ~80pc of the country’s iron ore, ~100pc of coking coal and a significant portion of chromite, bauxite and dolomite reserves.

There is a presence of major ports such as Paradip, Haldia, Vizag, Kolkata etc. with  >30pc of India’s major port capacity. In India’s march towards a $5 trillion economy, the 5 Eastern states can play a major role where the steel sector can become the catalyst. This Eastern belt has the potential to add more than 75pc of the country’s incremental steel capacity envisioned by the National Steel Policy. It is expected that out of the 300 MT capacity by 2030-31, over 200 MT can come from this region alone, driven by Industry 4.0.

The proposed Integrated Steel Hub, encompassing Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Northern Andhra Pradesh, would serve as a torchbearer for socio-economic growth of Eastern India.

The objective of this hub would be to enable swift capacity addition and improve the overall competitiveness of steel producers both in terms of cost and quality. The Integrated Steel Hub would focus on 3 key elements- capacity addition through easing the setup of Greenfield steel plants, development of steel clusters near integrated steel plants as well as demand centres and transformation of logistics and utility infrastructure which would change the socio-economic landscape in the East.

Growth of steel industry through such a hub would lead to significant employment opportunities across the entire value chain and will play a significant role in overall socio-economic growth of Eastern India, thus reducing the disparity between the East and other regions of the country.

Ms Rasika Chaube, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Steel also addressed the gathering. Mr Rohit Yadav, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel made a presentation on Purvodaya in the steel sector.

Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) stated that Purvodaya is a phenomenal step and he thanked the Central Government for giving CII the momentum and opportunity to launch Purvodaya as the 1st event on the 125th year celebration of CII.

He mentioned that CII will ‘recommit’ themselves towards the working of this important project. He congratulated the Ministry of Steel for this initiative and said that this idea of integrated Steel Hub will only be possible when people, Government, PSE and the small scale industries will all join hands together.

Ms Vandana Yadav, Secretary, Industries, Govt. of West Bengal, Hemanth Sharma, Secretary, Industries, Govt. of Odisha, Sanjiv Kumar, Chairman, Indian Oil, Anil Chaudhary, Chairman, SAIL, Anil Kumar Jha, Chairman, Coal India, Chandrajit Banerjee, DG, CII, S.K. Behera, MD, RSB Ltd. also addressed the audience.

Two publications by Mr Pradhan were released – ‘JPC study of End- Use segment-wise Steel Demand’ and ‘Ispati Ilako ka Vikash – SAIL ke Saath’ on the occasion.