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"We will have a pricing policy for raw materials so that no industry is forced to pay more for their needs," said Finance minister Prafulla Ghadai, chairman of the inter-ministerial group on price fixation on raw materials.
Stating that the pricing policy would be finalised keeping in view the rate of differet minerals in the international market and the London Stock Exchange, Ghadai said arrangements would be made to help the local industries. "We will ensure that the local industries are not forced to procure their required raw material at higher price," he said.
A number of industries had stated to the government that they were unable to run their units due to acute shortage of raw materials. "Though the state government has signed MoU with about 80 industries, including 50 steel manufacturers, there is no proper raw material linkage," the memorandum submitted to the steel and mines department claimed.
While industries demand raw materials from Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), the state owned corporation had no capacity to meet their raw material requirement. "We are exploring possibilities as to how to increase production of OMC," Ghadai said.
This apart, the inter-ministerial group also asked the steel and mines department and the industries department to assess the actual requirement of raw materials in the MoU signed by 80 industries.
The state government, Ghadai said, was also taking steps to ensure that the industries get raw materials at reasonable rate so that their plants could run without hurdles.
Due to lack of any policy, the industries had been forced to purchase raw materials at a rate more than the market price, Ghadai admitted.
