OMC against acquiring stake in titanium project

Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has ruled out the possibility of picking up any stake in the Rs 1,200-crore titanium project proposed at Chhatrapur in south Orissa's Ganjam district.

The project was to be originally developed as a joint venture (JV) between Kolkata-based Saraf Agencies and Russian public sector firms- Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management (ROSIMUSHCHESTVO) and JSC Technochim Holding, but it has been pushed into a blind alley following exit of the Indian promoter.

Thereafter, the state government had indicated possibility of acquiring stake in the project as a JV partner.

"The industry department wanted to know if OMC was interested to acquire any stake in the titanium project. But we have declined to acquire any stake,' said a top OMC executive.

Earlier, the Russian promoters and Saraf Agencies had gone for a JV tie-up for the titanium dioxide plant and formed a special purpose vehicle called Titanium Projects Private Ltd (TPPL) to execute the project.

But work on the ambitious project had hit a roadblock due to sharp differences between the consortium partners over the controversial allotment of land by the state government owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa Ltd (Idco).

Idco had allotted land for the titanium project to Saraf Agencies at Chhatrapur but the Russian promoters had opposed it, demanding land allotment in the name of TPPL.

Even after several rounds of negotiations, the two sparring partners failed to cut any ice, with the dispute finally culminating in the exit of Saraf Agencies from the project. As per the original scheme of things, the Russian partners- State Property Management Agency was to have 51 per cent stake in the JV and Tekhnokhim Holding 4 per cent stake. The balance 45 per cent stake would have gone to the Indian partner- Saraf Agencies. Saraf Agencies had invested Rs 200 crore on the project.

The state government had urged the Russian promoters of the project to settle all outstanding dues of their erstwhile joint venture partner - Saraf Agencies and start work on the project as soon as possible.

Non-utilisation of land allotted for the titanium project had irked the land losers who had moved the Odisha High Court in December last year, seeking return of their land.

The villagers, under the banner of Land Losers' Welfare Association (LLWA), have filed public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court in this regard.

Around 230 acres of land held by 1200 people in four villages including Kanamana, Tikiria Berhampur, Chandrapada and Maipatna were acquired for the project.