Odisha to get Rs 70,000cr revenue from coal blocks: Goyal

Bhubaneswar: Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that Odisha will get Rs 70,000 crore as 12 coal blocks in the state have already been allocated.

"Odisha will generate revenue of Rs 70,000 crore from 12 of its allocated coal blocks," he said at the 'Make in Odisha' conclave.

"Odisha's mining industry has the potential to transform the state into one with full employment to its people," he said.

Goyal, who is also Union Power Minister, also said that every village of Odisha would be electrified by May 2018.

"In last two years, out of the 3,474 villages (in the state), we have electrified 1,811 villages and the work of electrification in under progress in 1,172 villages," he said.

Stressing on the requirement of saving energy, Goyal said: "The government has distributed about 18 crore LED bulbs in the country, out of which 73,000 LED bulbs have been distributed in Odisha."

"If the people of the state adopt the LED bulbs, then the state can save a lot of energy energy every year," he added.

He also urged the people of the state to not only be the India's biggest mineral provider but also to be an exporter of finished goods.

"Right now we see, minerals being exported to other parts of the country from the state and the other countries, but I want that the finished quality goods to be exported from the state," Goyal said.

He also said that the Central government will support the initiative of the state government's 'Make in Odisha' campaign as it is directly parallel with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' theme.

He said Odisha should look to becoming a manufacturing hub by producing value added products instead of supplying raw materials.

Giving example of National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Goyal said the central PSU is exporting alumina to other countries despite producing it significantly.

"I was shocked when I came to know that Nalco's production capacity is less than half of its private peers. The focus should be on converting the surplus alumina to finished products within Odisha," he said.

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) would set up an ethanol plant based on agricultural residue at Bargarh at a cost of Rs 900 crore.

He said eastern India, including Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal will be connected with natural gas pipeline that would benefit the people immensely.

No plan to split Coal India

Goyal said that there is no plan to split Coal India Ltd.

"All the reports suggesting the splitting of the Coal India are untrue and unfounded," Goyal said on the sidelines of Make in Odisha Conclave here, rebutting media reports suggesting the state-run coal major would be split.

Stressing that Coal India's strength comes from its being one company, he said he had made the same assertion in "June 2014 too".