Steel minister directs SAIL to take steps to free land from encroachers in different parts of country

New Delhi: The Steel Ministry on Monday directed state-owned SAIL to take steps to free its land from encroachers in different parts of the country. Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh during a meeting with officials of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) here expressed serious concern over encroachment of land in different plants and units of SAIL in the country, the ministry said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_828551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] All encroachments “need to be removed on a priority basis for the next phase of modernisation and expansion of SAIL”, the minister said. Singh also directed SAIL officials to issue notices to the encroachers. The state-run steel maker can also take help of law enforcement agencies of the respective states to remove encroachments and illegal constructions, the minister has said. SAIL has five integrated steel plants namely Bhilai Steel Plant in Chattisgarh, Durgapur Steel Plant and IISCO Steel Plant in West Bengal, Rourkela Steel Plant in Odisha and Bokaro Steel Plant in Jharkhand. Besides, it has three special steel plants in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Karnataka. It also has a unit in Maharashtra. Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma, SAIL Chairman Saraswati Prasad and other senior officials of the ministry also attended the meeting.