The glut in the international steel market had cast its shadow on the numerous projects lined up in the state and of the 13 companies who had shown interest in establishing steel mills only four were vigorously pursuing their projects, he said while replying to the debate on the demand for budgetary grants relating to the steel and mines department.

As major endeavours in the projected Rs 1,31,000 crore investment into Orissa related to the steel and mineral sector, the state's plans could be badly hit, Patnaik said.

The chief minister, however, asserted that the Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (Tisco) which planned a mega project at Gopalpur would not pull out as they were committed to set up the plant.

The company has already invested Rs 100 crore there and the expansion of theGopalpur port would be completed within the next three years, he said. The chief minister's views were reiterated later by the industry minister, Niranjan Patnaik who said that unless the port came up, the steel project would also be affected as the two were linked.

The minister, who was separately replying to the debate on the demands relating to his own department, deplored that the Mineral and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC) which had entered into an agreement with the state government for developing the Gopalpur port, did nothing for two years before crying off.

We did not get the cooperation of the central government for the port project and had MMTC pulled out earlier, the work could have progressed, the industry minister said reiterating that the country's unstable political situation and economic recession in several countries had come as a dampener. We have no option but to wait, he said.

Patnaik said that a decision on the Gopalpur port would be taken within a month adding the state hadtaken long strides in industrial development after the present congress government assumed power in 1995.