Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday handed over cheques to 37 farmers who gave 100 acres of their land to be acquired for the proposed sponge iron plant of Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited in Konsari village in the Ashti block of Gadchiroli district, in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
Distributing the cheques, Fadnavis said, “This Lloyds plant is being set up to process iron ore and provide employment to locals. We are committed to the development of Gadchiroli and our main focus is to provide employment.”
The company has also announced the adoption of Alapalli Industrial Training Institute in Gadchiroli for providing skills training, he said at a programme in Konsari village to hand over the land for the proposed plant.
A formal foundation laying ceremony is likely to be organised later in the presence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who hails from Vidarbha, and Hansraj Ahir.
Mining iron ore has been tough in Gadchiroli considering the Naxalite threat and opposition from tribals, the original inhabitants of this region who fear destruction of their livelihood from the forests and their culture. Though mining operations were restarted last year after a gap of eight years, work had to be stopped due to threats from Maoists who torched 81 vehicles of the Lloyds Metals. However, since then heavy police force has been deployed. Lloyds Metals has been leased 348 hectares of land but has been mining only on four hectares due to security issues.
The proposed plant will use the iron ore from the Surajgarh mine of Lloyds in Atapalli block, giving in to demands from some activists. Presently, the ore is taken out of Gadchiroli for use in the company’s plant at Ghuggus in Chandrapur.
In 2007, Lloyd Steel, a Mumbai-based private company, received clearance to begin iron ore mining operations in Surajgarh hills of Gadchiroli which has large reserves of high grade iron ore. Of the estimated 270 metric tonnes of iron ore in the state, Gadchiroli has 180 metric tonnes. Fadnavis has been strongly pushing for mining and mining-related industries and says, “Gadchiroli is mineral rich, and along with mining we also want to push for setting up of industries to process the minerals.”
