Mamata Banerjee Inaugurates Rs 4,500 Crore Integrated Steel Plant in Purulia, Aiming for Job Creation

In an effort to boost employment in the underdeveloped area of Purulia, chief minister Mamata Banerjee is set to open an integrated steel mill in Raghunathpur in Purulia district on Tuesday. This is the first industrial project of its kind to begin construction in the Jungle Mahal region during her term.

One of Jungle Mahal's four districts, Purulia, has frequent droughts and lacks large industry, making it difficult to find work.

Most of the land is infertile or used just for single crops.

Many Purulia residents relocate to the industrial district of West Burdwan, which is nearby, to work as laborers in industries or as migrant laborers in other states.

When the facility begins operating at full capacity, the management of Shyam Steel Works Private Ltd, a subsidiary of the Shyam Steel group, a secondary steel manufacturer, has promised to provide around 8,000 direct job possibilities.

When manufacturing ramps up to full capacity, we will be able to employ close to 8,000 people. 359 workers from land-loser families were among the 2,500 first employees, the majority of whom were from the area, according to Bipul Panigrahi, senior general manager of the business.

Situated on a 600-acre property near Jungle Sundari Karmanagari, previously known as Raghunathpur Industrial Park of the WBIDC in Purulia, is a steel factory with a capacity of 1.19 mtpa (million tonnes per year). In April of last year, work on the project began. In the first phase, the business has already spent Rs 1,500 crore.

An internal view of the factory.

With an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, Shyam Steel has three more mills, one in Durgapur, a neighboring West Burdwan district, and one in Mejia, Bankura, with a total capacity of 2.84 mtpa.

An industrialization effort was launched in the then Maoist-controlled Jungle Mahal during the Left rule when Jindal Steel Works announced plans to build a 10 million tonne integrated steel factory on 4,700 acres at Salboni in West Midnapore. However, the Jindals eventually significantly reduced their ambitions, making the massive industrial project unfeasible.

There is now a 3.8 mtpa cement factory in operation, coupled with a JSW railway siding and captive power. The building occupies 400–500 acres.

Not only did Jai Balaji Industries' big steel project in Raghunathpur fail to materialize, but it was also announced under the Left rule. The 4,000 acres were intended to be home to a 1,215 megawatt power plant, a 3 mtpa cement mill, and a 5 mtpa steel plant.

Prior to the Lok Sabha elections, Purulia-based Trinamul officials predicted that the opening of the steel facility would improve both their party's reputation and jobs in Jungle Mahal. "This is going to be our major accomplishment." Now that our administration has brought in a large steel mill here, we can convince the public that employment have been generated. The district president of Trinamul Purulia, Soumen Belthoria, said, "They won't have to go elsewhere for work today.

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