Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi has directed officials to explore the possibility of setting up a mega steel project in his home district Keonjhar.

Following the chief minister’s direction, a task force has been formed under the chief secretary to examine the possibility of establishing a steel plant in Keonjhar.

If Majhi successfully sets up a mega steel plant on his home turf, it will benefit the BJP in future.

The task force, headed by chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, will hold meetings with different industrial groups and showcase Keonjhar’s strength in setting up a mega steel project. Although the district has abundant mineral resources such as iron ore, water and power, it still does not have a mega steel industry. Adjoining districts such as Sundergarh and Jajpur have many steel projects.

Majhi, during his interaction with the officials, set a target to generate over 3.5 lakh employment opportunities in the next five years.

Principal secretary of industries department, Hemant Sharma, informed the chief minister that the state had received 989 applications for setting up industries and 674 of these had been approved by the single-window authority. Land had also been allotted to 352 units. Of these, 74 units became operational.