Following is an excerpt from a report in the New Indian Express.

After successful completion of first-phase land acquisition for the SEZ, preparations are on to start the second phase. In the first phase, 250 acres, including 48 acres of government land, have been acquired.

Another 250 acres would be acquired in the second phase likely to start by this year-end. M/s Saraf Agencies Pvt ltd, a Kolkota-based firm, will set up the SEZ with Russian collaboration.

The firm has been pursuing this project for the past 10 years because of the high mineral content in beach sand along the coastline.

However, the agitation against the proposed mega steel plant by Tisco delayed the decision of the firm. The firm has also started its efforts to search partners to set up its proposed titanium dioxide plant near Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM), a unit of Indian Rare Earths Ltd near Chatrapur.

The plant will facilitate setting up of the SEZ. The company has signed an MoU with two Russian state-run agencies for the proposed SEZ that will process titanium from ilmenite ore.

The MoU was signed during the visit of Russian president Vladimir Putin to India and the project will entail an investment of $250 million (around Rs.1200 crore).

The two Russian entities that will take part in the project are Vnesheconombank or the Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs and JSC Technochim Holding, which is a St. Petersburg-based public sector undertaking.

During recent visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Russia, the Russian premier Viktor Zubkov informed that his country is ready to actively participate in development of the SEZ as part of the efforts to boost bilateral economic ties.

While the Russian firms will have a 55 percent stake in the project, there will be financial participation from them.

They will provide the technology to process titanium from ilmenite ore. The Indian government plans to use this project to set off part of the debt in the rupee-rouble account and will, therefore, invest $125 million in the SEZ.

Saraf Agencies will pump Rs 175 crore into the project and the remaining amount will be raised as loan. The company received an in-principle approval for the SEZ on August 23 last year. The ilmenite ore will be provided by OSCOM.