Gaya’s stalled steel plant project causes unease among NDA leaders

Gaya: Non-execution of the steel processing plant in the Wazirganj area of Gaya district has caused unease among NDA leaders. Realising the importance of the project and its impact on the forthcoming assembly election, Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and other NDA leaders have raised the issue on several platforms.

The ‘bhumipujan’ for the project was performed on Dec 3, 2008, by the then Union steel minister, Ram Vilas Paswan. In the last 17 years, little progress has been made to execute the project, which, apart from creating jobs in the drought-prone area, could have acted as a catalyst for growth, said Congress leader and former AICC member Vijai Kumar Mithu.

At the time of ‘bhumipujan’, late Ram Vilas Paswan had announced that Rs 200 crore was earmarked for the execution of the project. Considering inflation, the project cost must have now increased at least threefold, said the Congress leader.

Even 30 acres of land were acquired by the govt for the steel processing plant, which envisaged the manufacturing of TMT bars used in the construction of high-rise buildings, houses, bridges, highways, and other infrastructure projects.

According to available inputs, the project could not move forward due to the non-issuance of a certificate for change in land use from agriculture to industry.

Raising the issue during PM Modi’s Aug 22 meeting in Bodh Gaya, Jitan Ram Manjhi lamented that the then steel minister, late Ram Vilas Paswan, had allotted two steel processing plants for Bihar — at Wazirganj (Gaya) and Bettiah. While production has started at the Bettiah unit, the Wazirganj project remains a non-starter, said Manjhi. The PM did not respond to Manjhi’s concern on the issue. Since then, Manjhi has been continuously raising the matter at different platforms.

According to a BJP leader, who preferred anonymity, Manjhi should not raise the issue on public platforms as it hurts the NDA’s political interests. Questioning Manjhi’s seriousness, the BJP leader alleged that he only wants to belittle Chirag Paswan for not effectively pursuing his father’s pet project.

JD(U) leader Arvind Singh said that although the project should have been completed long ago, it is never too late and expressed hope that work on the project would start soon.

BJP district (East) chief Vijay Manjhi said the non-execution of the project would not affect the NDA’s prospects in the district, particularly in the Wazirganj assembly segment. “It has been delayed, not abandoned,” he said.