Govt will decide on Baldota's steel mill after court orders, says Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the government would take a call on the proposed 10.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) steel plant in Koppal district after courts decide on the subject.

The CM, responding to queries on the agitations over the proposed steel project, said there were cases pending in the court and the government would take an appropriate decision.

Hospet-based Baldota group signed up with the government at the global investor summit in February proposing to invest Rs 54,000 crore on a greenfield steel mill with a production capacity of 10.50 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

The project would add about 15, 000 new direct and indirect jobs, the group had said. But it has ground to a halt following local resistance.

The CM had, in March first week, asked the Koppal district administration to direct the Baldota group to stop work on the steel mill. The CM’s direction came after a delegation of MLAs and MLCs, led by the district in-charge minister Shivaraj Tangadagi, gave him a memorandum opposing the plant.

The Baldota Group’s proposed investment, interestingly, has received all clearances including from the Union Government and the state pollution control board, sources said. The company has acquired 1,000 acres of land and is planning to acquire another 2,400 acres for the steel mill.