Bhubaneswar, Dec 4: Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has requested the Centre to restart the project for upgradation of infrastructure at Angul Aluminium Park in Odisha.
In a letter to Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Pradhan sought his personal intervention to direct the concerned officials to undertake the review of the work done so far. He requested to restart the project for upgradation of infrastructure with a renewed focus on ironing out bottlenecks for expeditious completion of the project. The letter was released to media on Wednesday.
“I also request to restore central assistance to Odisha aluminium cluster at Angul under MIIUS with the objective of enhancing of industrial competitiveness of the aluminium industry by providing quality infrastructure in the cluster which has the potential to become globally competitive,” said the Minister. Notably, a project for upgradation of infrastructure at the aluminium park was accorded approval in August 2015 with a project cost estimated at Rs 99.60 crore including a central grant of Rs 33.44 crore.
However, the apex committee of Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS), notified by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in its meeting held on November 1, 2018 decided to drop the project due to slow progress. It also directed Angul Aluminium Park Private Limited (AAPPL), the implementing agency of the project, to refund the released central grant.
