An INR20,000 crore power and steel project located at the Jamuria in the Burdwan district in West Bengal is the linchpin of hope for the Videocon Group. The construction work may begins as early as the end of the fiscal year.
According to Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot, "I will be meeting (Chief Minister) Mamata (Banerjee) today as she has invited me to review various projects. Coal linkage has been a worry for the project, but she has written to the Centre. But things take time at the Centre as you know."
The company had formalized a Memorandum of Understanding with the government for the construction and operation of an integrated steel plant and power plant last October 2007. There were issues regarding coal linkage, as Coal India Ltd said that there were aloready coal reserves right in Jamuria. Another stumbling block was the need for an additional land are of 400 acres. This though was already addressed by Dhoot, confirming 'it should not be a problem."
These two issues were the fuel that fanned speculation of the scrapping of the project.
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