The multi-billion-dollar diversified Essar Group, which has operations spread
across different continents, has a significant presence in four states in eastern
India – Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
These four states account for a significant chunk of the mineral wealth in India and provide essential raw materials for the Group's steel and energy operations. The Essar Group has invested huge amounts in infrastructure and in setting up operations in these four states. It has also invested significant amounts in building the social infrastructure in many of the backward districts and areas of eastern India as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
Essar Steel, the fully integrated carbon steel manufacturer and one of India's largest exporters of flat products, has several major facilities in the region. These include a 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) iron ore beneficiation plant at Dabuna in Odisha and an eight MTPA plant at Bailadilla in Chhattisgarh.
Both were strategically established to leverage the rich iron ore deposits of the respective states. The plants pump the iron ore slurry to Essar Steel pellet plants at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh through a 267 km pipeline and Paradip in Odisha through a 253 km pipeline.
Essar Steel also has a six MTPA pellet plant at Paradip, which provides vital
raw material to its steel plant at Hazira in Gujarat.
Essar Oil, which is the largest coal bed methane (CBM) player in India – with an acreage of over 2,700 km – operates the Raniganj CBM Block in West Bengal. The block is located in the Damodar Valley coal field. Essar Oil entered into a 35-year contract with the Government of India for the exploration and production of CBM in the Raniganj Block in July 2002.
Raniganj has current test production of around 22,000 scm/d of gas. The total proven and probable reserves (2P) at Raniganj, evaluated as at 1 September 2011, are 113 billion cubic feet (bcf) gross, or 18.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), while best estimate contingent resources (2C) are 445 bcf gross, or 74.1mmboe.
The latest evaluation shows that there also remains 297bcf gross, or 49mmboe, of best estimate prospective resources.
Exploration assets
Essar Energy also has three exploration assets in the region. It has
been awarded the Rajmahal CSG Block in Jharkhand in the CBM IV round of bidding
conducted by the Government of India. This block is approximately 100km from
the existing Raniganj CSG Block and covers an area of 1,128sq. km.
It has also been awarded the Talchir Block in Odisha in the CBM IV round of bidding and covers an area of 557sq. km. Essar Oil has also been awarded the IB Valley Block in Odisha in the same round of bidding; this covers an area of 209sq. km.
Essar Power, India's second-largest power generation company in the private sector – which plans to expand the current generation capacity of 1,600 MW to 11,470 MW – has a few under construction and under development projects in eastern India.
The Essar Power Jharkhand-Tori (EPJL) project will be a captive pit-head coal-fired
power plant, comprising two generation units of 600 MW capacity each, located
in Latehar district, Jharkhand. Fuel for the project will be sourced from the
Chakla and Ashok Karkata coal blocks. EPJL also proposes to expand the power
plant through the installation of an additional generation unit of 600 MW.
The Essar Power Odisha-Paradip power plant will be a coal-fired power plant comprising four generation units of 30 MW each located in Paradip, Odisha. Paradip is a well-equipped and serviced port, an advantage for the supply of imported coal. Fuel for the project will be supplied by Essar Steel Orissa.
Navabharat Power I is a 1050-MW pithead power project and is being developed by Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd (NPPL) located in the Dhenkanal district in Odisha. Essar Energy acquired NPPL in 2010. Also under development is Navabharat Power II, a 1,200-MW pithead power project also located in Dhenkanal district.
Essar Ports, India's second-largest private sector port and terminal company by capacity and throughput, operates two terminals in Paradip in Odisha: the iron ore/dry bulk terminal and the coal terminal. In July 2012, the Paradip Port Trust received governmental approval for the all-weather deep-draft coal berth that had been awarded to Essar Ports on build, operate and transfer basis on a 30-year concession. Essar Ports has received formal intimation from Paradip Port Trust to commence mobilization towards construction activities. The company will build a mechanized berth of 370m length, which will be one of the most advanced port facilities of its type in India. This would give the facility an effective handling capability of 14 to 18 million tons per annum.
| Also read: |
 Essar's
CSR initiatives in East India |
