Paradip: The ‘bhumi puja’ ground-breaking ceremony for the pellet plant of JSW Utkal Steel (JUSL) in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district was performed on Friday.
The company’s greenfield project is coming up in Nuagaon, Dhinkia and Gadakujung panchayats under Ersama block of the district.
On the occasion, 41 youths from the plant site were offered employment letters at BPSL (a subsidiary of JSW). Sarpanch Kishore Parida and Suchitra Mantri, who were present on the occasion, expressed happiness over the course of events leading to the establishment of the plant for betterment of the local communities. The test piling work would commence soon.
In a significant development, the president and whole time director of JSW subsidiary BPSL, Anil Singh has been appointed as the new project head of the greenfield steel plant.
Meanwhile, alternative livelihoods programme for the economically vulnerable population at the site has been implemented in Dhinkia, Mahala, Gobindpur, Patana, Nuagan, Gadakujang, Nolia Sahi, Polang, and Bhuyanpal villages.
It provided alternative livelihood opportunities to 456 persons in the form of poultry, goatery, dairy and mushroom cultivation between December 2022 and March 2023. Overall, the programme is expected to benefit 2,041 persons across by 2024-25 financial year.
Besides, skill development initiatives are being implemented in Dhinkia, Nuagan, and Gadakujang panchayats. While 151 youths have been trained this year, total 440 youth would be skilled in diverse domains by the end of 2024-25.
Steps are also being taken the locals in various construction works and register them as vendors for steel plant construction and allied jobs, which would help them become self-reliant in the upcoming days. The event was attended by senior officials of the company.
