Nagarnar Steel Plant’s Privatisation will Further Sensitize Bastar

The construction of National Mineral Development Corporation’s (NMDC) Greenfield Integrated Steel Plant at Nagarnar in Bastar is underway alongside the process of its privatization. NMDC acquired about 2,000 acres of land, mostly from Tribals and began building 3 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MPTA) Steel Plant. While members of the project affected families were promised with secure government jobs as compensation against the land taken away from them, entry of any private entities will certainly lead to unrest in the region which is predominantly an armed-conflict zone with the presence of Maoists.

According to Ministry of Steel’s Annual report 2017-18, as on 31 December 2017, around 90.59 percent of civil work, 79.01 percent structural erection, 60.36 percent equipment erection have been completed in the process of setting up the Plant. Simultaneously, NMDC is also constructing a slurry pipeline system interconnecting Pellet Plant at Nagarnar with Ore Processing Plant at Bacheli.

Privatisation

In December 2016, NITI Aayog had recommended the strategic disinvestment of Nagarnar Steel Plant among other public sector units. The proposal was immediately taken up by the central government and it’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had accorded ‘in-principle’ permission to NMDC, to offload 51 percent equity in the Steel Plant in favour of private entities. Although NMDC is maintaining to follow the Centre’s instructions, a 2013 report suggests that NMDC had plans of partnering with a foreign company by giving away half of its stake to garner profits.

While the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is said to have prepared the strategic divestment plan for the plant, NMDC had hired transaction, legal and asset valuation consultants for this matter.

Despite the obvious developments towards privatization, Chhattisgarh government led by CM Raman Singh has limited itself to nominal resistance in this regard. Perhaps the impending assembly elections, the state government had reportedly requested the Centre to reconsider its decision on the Plants’ disinvestment, this March.

Resistance

Last year, Bastar’s villagers led numerous protests when the proposal of strategic disinvestment came to light. Their main argument has been that they gave away their lands hoping that the local tribal population would get employed in government entities and with the entry of private players would eventually result in job losses and exploitation of natural resources.

NMDC's two workers' unions, Steel Sramik Union (SSU) and Sanjukta Mazdoor Sangathan have led a ten-month long protest against the privatization until the Nagarnar Steel Plant’s authorities assured to consider their demands. On the other side, Bastar has been witnessing numerous instances of firings between the CRPF personnel and the Maoists.

The Nagarnar Steel Plant could reach the completion state only because it was conceived as a governmental project. The Central government’s privatization move would therefore only further sensitize the already sensitized zone.