In first steel related tour after assuming charge as Union Minister of Steel, Hon'ble Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan made a 3 day visit to Jharkhand. Shri Pradhan stressing on Mission Purvodaya envisioned by Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, underlined the importance of eastern region of the country in driving national growth.
During his visit Hon. Minister visited the Bokaro Steel Plant of SAIL. During plant visit, Hon'ble Minister witnessed and took keen interest in the production process.
He interacted with the workmen and while lauding them for their contribution, exhorted them to continue the good work. He stressed on the importance of team work and appealed to them to give highest priority to safety. Later in the afternoon, he held a meeting with senior officials of SAIL in which he reviewed the production performance, projects and CSR activities of the plant.
During a separate interaction with media, Hon'ble Minister underlined the expansion plans in the steel industry to take its production capacity to a level of 300 MT by 2030-31 in line with the National Steel Policy-2017.
He further said the eastern region of the country holds immense potential and a large part of steel production target as envisioned in National Steel Policy will come from states like Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal.
He also discussed the plans for creation and development of Steel Clusters in the region as one of his priority areas. Hon. Minister further visited different mines of Raw Materials Division (RMD) of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Shri Pradhan went to SAIL's Gua Ore Mines, Kiriburu Iron Ore Mines, Mehgahatuburu Iron Ore Mines, and Bolani Ores Mines. While visiting the mines Minister took keen interest in understanding the mines operation and management.
Shri Pradhan also visited various CSR projects of SAIL around the mines area which included Eklavya Archery Academy, Suwan Chhatravaas and Kiran women empowerment centre. He interacted with the students and motivated them to excel in life. Shri Pradhan gave directions to officials for further development of the mines to ensure iron ore supply security for SAIL steel plants.