Lack of industrial development in mining hub Joda
Joda: Located in Odisha’s Keonjhar district, Joda boasts of the highest concentration of mining areas in the state. However, the region has failed to develop beyond mining, with no significant industrial establishments thanks to its rich mineral resources. Despite extensive extraction of minerals that are transported to other states, there has been no industrial development in Joda, leaving local residents reeling under unemployment and hardship.
The mining cluster of Joda comprises 90 mines, but only 34 are operational and 56 are closed due to various legal and regulatory issues. Odisha earns around Rs 46,000 crore annually from mining revenue, of which the Joda mining division alone contributes around Rs 21,000 crore. The mining revenue target from Joda has been set at Rs 22,000 crore this fiscal. Mining in Joda began in 1907 when a private company began operations. For 117 years, the region has supplied millions of tonnes of iron ore to a giant steel plant in Jharkhand via rail and road routes. Another major mine at Jajang, part of the Joda cluster, began extracting iron ore in 1966. Over time, the associated companies exported millions of tonnes of ore, earning them huge profits. Instead of setting up a large-scale steel industry, small sponge iron plants were set up in and around Joda.
This focus on medium and small-scale industries rather than large-scale projects neglected the development potential of the district and the state. While Jharkhand built a giant steel plant using iron ore from Odisha, Joda and its surrounding areas were overlooked and neglected. From the 1970s until 2020, extensive mining continued in the region. Yet, when the leases expired, mining companies showed little interest in turning the region into an industrial hub, leaving only extraction sites and unrealised potential.
For nearly five decades, companies operating in areas such as Kashia, Tonto and Guali have been engaged in mining activities only for profit, setting up pellet plants, sponge iron factories and iron ore beneficiation plants. According to sources in the mines department, about 83 million metric tonnes of iron ore has been extracted from the Joda mining area, of which 77.4 million metric tonnes have been transported. Despite abundant mining activities, there are no major steel industries in the Joda mining area. Instead, 23 medium-scale industries exist, primarily focused on securing the mines and generating revenue. However, many of these industries were reportedly found non-operational most of the time. Incentives from the central government raised hopes of transformational change in the mining sector. In 2015, the government introduced a new mining policy and the auction of mines began by 2020.
This attracted the interest of multinational and international mining companies, leading to significant investment proposals for Odisha. To support this, the then Odisha government organised a ‘Make in Odisha’ conference. However, the dream of setting up a major steel industry in the region remained unfulfilled. Subsequently, the new state government has initiated efforts to revive this ambition, with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi vowing to set up a major steel industry in the district. Speaking on the matter, Joda BJP leader Ranjit Mahakud emphasised the abundant mineral resources of the region and welcomed the Chief Minister’s move. He urged public support in the initiative and proposed that the government could use about 17 acres of unused land, which earlier belonged to the defunct Kalinga Iron Factory at Barbil Matakambeda, to set up a new large-scale steel plant.
