Steel Authority of India Limited
The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) was established on January 24, 1973 [1].
The company operates under the management of the Ministry of Steel and Mines.
SAIL is the largest steel-making company in India. It has five major steel plants across the country which includes Rourkela Steel Plant, Bokaro Steel Plant, IISCO Steel Plant, Durgapur Steel Plant, and the Bhilai Steel Plant.
According to Comptroller Auditor General (CAG), the total land held by the five steel plants of SAIL is 1,01,598 acres.
As of March 2017, the company possessed title deeds of only 48,918 acres of land (48 per cent) of the 1,01,598 acres of land held by the five steel plants of SAIL.[2]
A huge portion of land under the control of these five steel plants across the country is kept unused and is under encroachment.
| # | Plant | Area (acre) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | IISCO | 20 |
| 2 | Rourkela | 391 |
| 3 | Bhillai | 510 |
| 4 | Durgapur | 1,163 |
| 5 | Bokaro | 1,932 |
| Total | 14,016 acre | |
CAG has pointed out that out of the total 10,158 acres of land held by these five steel plants, around 29,008 acres of land (or more than 20,000 football fields) is either leased, surplus, or encroached. The auditor also revealed that the company did not make any master plan for the utilization of these surplus land parcels.
The total value of such unused, encroached, and leased land parcels held by the company is ₹ 58,149 crore.
If these unused, leased, and encroached land parcels are monetized then each Indian household may stand to gain ₹ 23,277.
This shows that the government cannot even protect their own land from encroachments. On the other hand, the company even kept a large chunk of valuable land unused in major cities. There is a possibility that SAIL holds more such unused or encroached parcels of land across the country.
Refer to the map and accompanying table for details.
| # | Plant | Area (acre) | Value (₹ crore) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IISCO Steel Plant Burnpur | 432 | 874 |
| 2 | Bokaro Steel Plant | 14513 | 28,820 |
| 3 | Durgapur Steel Plant | 5252 | 10,627 |
| 4 | Rourkela Steel Plant | 4952 | 10,020 |
| 5 | Bhilai Steel Plant | 3859 | 7,808 |
| Total | 29,008 acre | ₹ 58,149 crore | |
