The Minister of Steel, Shri Beni Prasad Verma has said that the land handed over to Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) by the then State Government includes 26908.565 acres acquired land, 3600.215 acres Gair Mazarua land and 778.46 acres forest land. The available land of Bokaro Steel Plant has been used for the existing plant, township and related facilities including its on-going expansion project and is further required for future expansion. The production capacity of the plant is 4.36 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA).
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today Shri Verma said, Land for setting up of Bokaro Steel Plant was acquired by the then Government of Bihar through various notification under Part II of the Land Acquisition Act. Directorate of Employment & Training (employment wing) of the then State Government of Bihar compiled the number of families displaced at the time of setting up of the plant was 6,019 during 1972. The compensation and rehabilitation of displaced persons has been/is being done by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Bokaro, under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 in terms of the provisions of the Act. BSL is responsible only for providing requisite funds for the purpose of compensation as per rules of the State Government.
Shri Verma said, the amount pertaining to compensation has been deposited with the State Government as per demands raised from time to time. Recently, in 2007, BSL has also deposited Rs. 70 crore with the District Judge, Bokaro towards payment of enhanced compensation. In principle, it was agreed to provide employment to at least one member of the displaced family initially. BSL has so far provided employment to more than 16000 displaced persons, which is much more than the number of families originally displaced. Employment of displaced persons at SAIL/BSL is now being regulated in terms of the DPE guidelines and legal pronouncements.
The Minister said, there is no unutilized land available at Bokaro Steel Plant. However, SAIL has been in discussion with POSCO for setting up a FINEX technology based steel plant of around 3 MTPA hot metal capacity as a joint venture at Bokaro Steel Plant. It is estimated that around 1100 acres land would be required for this purpose. SAIL and POSCO have not reached an agreement on the share holding structure of the joint venture.
The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act is not applicable in case of the land acquired under the provisions of Land Acquisition Act, 1894. There is no unutilised land available in Bokaro Steel Plant as the land has been used for the existing plant, township and related facilities including its on-going expansion project and further required for future expansion, the Minister added.