Following is from Sambada:

Following is from Samaja:

The following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37272.

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation has approved 15 projects under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) and 5 projects under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) in Orissa so far. These projects have been approved by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee and Central Sanctioning Committee.  The details of the projects approved under IHSDP  are given below: 

INTEGRATED HOUSING AND SLUM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (IHSDP)

Under the IHSDP, 4884 new dwelling units have been approved for construction at the total project cost of Rs. 83.63 crore.  Out of this, the Central share of Rs. 59.13 crore and State share of Rs.  24.50 crore have been approved.  The Total Additional Central Assistance of Rs 14.92 crore has been released by Ministry of Finance.

The details of the projects approved under BSUP are given below:

BASIC SERVICES TO THE URBAN POOR (BSUP)

            Under the BSUP, the projects worth amounting to Rs. 67.17 crore have been approved to construct  2316 dwelling units in the two mission cities in the State.  The Central share of Rs. 48.77 crore and State share of Rs. 18.40 crore have been approved. The total Additional Central Assistance of  Rs. 12.19  crore has also been released by the Ministry of Finance . 

            The Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme was launched by the Prime Minister in December 2005 with a view to ameliorate the conditions of the urban slum dwellers who are residing in dilapidated conditions.  The existing Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) and the discontinued National Slum Development Programme (NSDP) are subsumed in the IHSDP, to strive for holistic slum development with a healthy and enabling urban environment by providing adequate shelter and basic infrastructure facilities to the urban slum dwellers.  The programme covers all the towns except the 63 mission towns/cities covered under the Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). 

The Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP)  was launched by the Prime Minister in December 2005 with a view to ameliorate the conditions of the urban slum dwellers who are residing in dilapidated conditions in the identified 63 mission cities.  The basic objective of the scheme is to strive for holistic slum development with a healthy and enabling urban environment by providing adequate shelter and basic infrastructure facilities to the urban slum dwellers.

Following is from http://teamorissa.org/water.asp.

Ground Water Resources: 

The natural recharge of ground water takes place through percolation from land after rain events. The quantum of dynamic ground water, which can be annually extracted, is generally reckoned as ground water potential. As per assessment made in 2001, the total annual replenishable ground water resource of the state is 21.011 BCM, out of which 60% i,e 12.607 BCM is safe and usable.

Water has always played an important role in providing livelihood, hygiene and environmental securities since the dawn of civilization. The demand pattern is changing rapidly with increase in population, urbanization and rapid industrialization. Keeping in view the constraints of water availability and the variety of its uses, water allocation issues need to be addressed in a wise manner. Considering this, the present and future requirement of water for all purposes have been assessed, which is given in the table below. 

Water requirements for different uses ( Qty. in BCM)

Water     Storage: 

A storage capacity of 17.00 BCM has so far been developed through completed major, medium and minor(flow) projects. Besides, the projects under construction will contribute to an additional 1.47 BCM. The details are given in the following table.

Reservoir Storage Status as on 31.03.2007 ( Qty. in BCM)

Following is from http://teamorissa.org/IPR_2007.zip. There is a lot of other useful information for industries looking for a home in the teamorissa web site.

Overview of Fiscal incentives offered by the Govt. of Orissa-IPR2007
(to eligible New units and existing units on substantial expansion which commence commercial production)

1

Source- Industrial Policy Resolution 2007

NM- Not mentioned; FCI-Fixed capital investment P&M-Plant and Machinery

* “Thrust Sector” means new industrial units in the following categories which commence fixed capital investment on or after the effective date and full fill the criteria stipulated as under.

Note – Government may, by notification modify the above list and criteria as and when necessary.

“Priority Sectors” means – New Industrial units where fixed capital investment commences on or after the effective date and fall within the following categories. 1) Information technology and IT enabled service 2) Tourism related (hotels shall not be eligible for any fiscal incentive other than land at concessional industrial rate) 3) Bio-technology 4) Petroleum, Chemicals & Petro-chemicals 5) Pharmaceuticals 6) Handicraft, Handloom, Coir and Leather products 7) Gem stone cutting and polishing 8) Sea food Processing 9) Fly ash & Blast furnace slag based industries utilizing a minimum of 25% by weight as base raw material 10) Any industry other than mineral extraction and mineral based industries, which export more than 50% of its total turnover, duly certified by the Director, Export Promotion and Marketing. 11) Units not qualifying for “Thrust Sector” status for not meeting minimum capital investment criteria. Note – Government may, by notification modify the above list.

2

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Taking into consideration the growing demand for an airport at Jharsuguda, the Union government has decided to renovate the existing one …

The government has decided to opt for a public-private partnership for the work. SREI, a Calcutta-based finance company, has expressed interest and is negotiating with the government in this regard, sources said. “No final decision has been taken. A confirmation has been sought from Airport Authority of India. Their decision will be final,” said works secretary S.K. Ray.

Following is an excerpt from a report in odishatoday.com.

"I have already talked with BCCI president Sharad Pawar requesting him to release funds for the infrastructure development of the Railway Cricket Stadium here in Orissa ," Railway Board Chairman and BCCI member Kalyan Coomar Jena said after inaugurating the Stadium here on Monday.

With inauguration of the Stadium, OCA and other cricket bodies could now host Ranji Trophy and other domestic cricket matches in the stadium. And after the expansion work got over, the Stadium could be a venue for the One-Day Internationals.

Railway sources said that the gallery would be made on lines of gallery that are being available in New Zealand.

"We have planned to make the Stadium as world class and facilities would be available on standards of other International venues," Jena, who is one among the policy maker of BCCI, said.

"I also discussed the matter with BCCI Treasure N Srinivasan and I hope, the country’s apex cricket body would release funds under its infrastructure development sachems, he added.

The Stadium is spread over 25 acres of land near here at Railway Workshop having a cricket ground with a boundary of 81 meters radius.

The Railway officials claimed that it would the biggest ever cricket ground in the world. The out field of the ground is planted with baramunda grass. In the first phase, Railway had released Rs 1.5 crore and in the second phase, the Ministry has sanctioned Rs 3 crore for the expansion of the Railway Stadium.

Meanwhile, OCA has announced to release a sum of Rs 1 crore in the initial phase, which will be spent on infrastructure development.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

The Indian Railways on Monday finally spelt out its plan of action to bring the Khurda-Bolangir new broad gauge line, which was sanctioned 13 years ago, back on track here.

Addressing a press conference, Chairman of Railway Board Kalyan Coomar Jena said the Orissa government had been approached to provide land required for the 290-kilometre-long stretch Khurda-Bolangir line free of cost.

Moreover, funds available in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) with the State should be diverted to take up earthwork needed for laying the new line, Mr. Jena said.

“If the state government responds positively to our idea, the Khurda-Bolangir project would move much faster,” Mr. Jena said.

… The proposed Khurda-Bolangir line is a vital railway link, which would connect coastal Orissa with the western part. Though people had started demanding the railway link more than two decades ago, it was sanctioned in the year 1994-1995.

The projected cost of the project has now reached Rs. 1,000 crore.

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) said 52 per cent of cumulative physical progress had been achieved while work was in progress up to 36 km distance. Till March 2007, only Rs. 67.83 crore had been spent on the project.

The Indian Railways also sought the State government’s cooperation on land acquisition for the Puri-Konark railway link. 

Sharing the progress on the proposed world-class railway station at Bhubaneswar, Mr. Jena said the railway was scouting for suitable land for the project.

He said Chinese expertise had been sought to prepare concept of the station, which would require at least 200 acres of land.

Subsequently, an expression of interest would be floated inviting interested firms to execute the project.

A high-level Chinese railway delegation headed by W.U. Wei, Director of Sino-India Railway Co-operation Working Group along with 12 members had visited the city for conducting a survey for developing a world class station here.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Kalinga Times.

… Jena said the gauge conversion of 90 km Naupada-Gunupur would be completed during the current fiscal.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

RITES, a central government enterprise and consultancy organisation working in transport, infrastructure and related sectors, has planned the introduce “mass rapid transit system” in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack at an estimated cost of Rs 2,246 crore.

Disclosing this at a Bhubaneswar seminar on traffic status today, transport secretary Priyabrata Patnaik conceded that the Union ministry of urban development is considering the proposal.

If the RITES plan gets the Centre’s nod, it will be implemented within five years and is expected to take care of the traffic problem of the twin cities, Patnaik added.

He said RITES had formulated the plan keeping in mind the demands of the two city’s projected population of 40 lakh by 2031.

The mass rapid transit system will include a light, monorail system in Cuttack stretching from Bidanasi to Central Rice Research Institute and a high-capacity bus system for both the cities.

These buses will run between vantagepoints in both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Police commissioner B.K. Behera said the traffic police wing has identified as many as 73 parking places across Bhubaneswar. Once these parking spaces are complete, the problem of traffic congestion on the arterial roads would be reduced considerably, he added.

… On the crowded Rajmahal Junction, an eight-lane road is being planned. The tender for the project will be floated within a month, said the chief engineer. Director of estates P.K. Mohanty said 30 vending zones had been created across the city to prevent roadside vending which leads to traffic congestion.

Vice-chairman of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) N.B. Dhal said his organisation would be bringing out a new building norm for high-rises, which would earmark 60 per cent of floor area as mandatory parking space.

BDA is also planning a satellite city on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on a public-private partnership mode, which will also ease traffic load on the main city.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Another SEZ (Special Economic Zone) is coming up in the State in the IT sector. Currently, the State has four SEZs in this sector.

It would be set up in 25 acres of land in Bhubaneswar on a Public -Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Electronic and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ECS) and Larsen and Turbo (L&T) would provide the necessary support for establishment of the SEZ. Government will provide the land for this purpose. IT Minister Surjya Naryan Patro said … 1074 acres of land has earmarked for the development of IT services.

Till date Orissa has applied for 14 SEZs, of which 3 have been cleared, six given in principle clearance and five have received formal clearance from the Centre.

Meanwhile, the State Government has urged the Centre to sanction an Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) to boost growth of IT and IT enabled services. The ITIR is being planned in the State will house space for hardware manufacturing units other than having provisions for new integrated townships, special economic zone and industrial parks.

Following is an excerpt from a news report in Economic Times.

CUTTACK: Chairman of Railway Board K C Jena on Sunday inaugurated the wi-fi facility at the railway station here to enable passengers pursue their professional and personal activities even during travel.

Any passenger could access the internet at the station with the help of a wi-fi enabled laptop and use credit card of any bank for online booking, he said.

Jena said the facility, introduced for the first time in the East-Coast Railway division, would help the bonafide passengers to enjoy wireless broadband access, access to reservation system, check e-mail and surf net at platforms while travelling.

The facility, provided by M/s Railtel, was currently available in 53 stations across the country.

In the near future, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Visakhapatnam stations would get the facility, railway sources said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Orissa’s per capita investment under implementation in December 2007 stood at Rs 78,569 crore which was more than three times of the national average of Rs 22,842. This was reported in the latest report of the Centre for Monitoring of the Indian Economy (CMIE), which is considered as the country’s leading source for development-related information and statistics.

… Domestic as well as foreign investors have several large-scale investments on implementation in Orissa across the mineral, tourism, energy, infrastructures and IT sectors. The investment so far has started yielding positive results for the State in terms of direct and indirect employment and increased revenue.

The following table is from a column in Indian Express. (See also http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/?p=640 for the data in June 2007 and its comparison with June 2002.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.

The ambitious plan of railways to set up about 100 budget hotels across the country, popularly known as Rail Ratna, has finally got a nod from the Railway Board. Twenty-two of these budget hotels are to be built in the first phase of work which is likely to be taken up soon.

… According to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) director Vinod Asthana, it has been decided to commercially exploit the vacant land of railways across the country. The ambitious budget hotel plan will yield good revenue to railways. IRCTC will go ahead with the plan as approved for the first phase of work, he said.

IRCTC MD Nalin Singhale said the proposed budget hotels will be built and developed on public-private partnership basis with a view to promoting tourism and providing full comfort to tourists.

IRCTC has already selected important places where these budget hotels are to be built. These places are Delhi, Varanasi, Ajmer, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Allahabad, Darjeeling, Sealdah, Lucknow, Mysore, Mumbai, Ooty, Puri, Amritsar, Shimla, Ujjain, Udaipur, Chandigarh, Kanyakumari, Pune, Nagpur and Agra, he said …

… According to sources, the budget hotel project is likely to yield about Rs 4,000 crore annually to railways on its completion. These hotels will be built on thousands of hectares of the vacant land leased out by the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA). Railways have roped in reputed companies of the country to invest in such an ambitious project. Tenders have been finalised and awarded to successful bidders at 20 locations at the country level, sources said.

As per the approved plan, each budget hotel is to be developed on the pattern of plush hotels equipped with all modern facilities. IRCTC has already formulated policies with regard to budget hotels, a Railway Board official said.

… Sources said Railway Board is yet to approve the tariff for each room of the proposed budget hotels. Railways are likely to fix Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 for each plush room of such hotels per night. IRCTC proposes to provide its own quality catering services in these budget hotels.

See details at http://oceanworldwaterpark.com.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer. (See also this report in tathya.in.)

"Honeymoon Island is one of the best preserved islands in the Chilika," said Mishra. Scions of the erstwhile Khallikote royalty used to experience scenic beauty of the island for which they had erected a luxurious villa. "Now, this will be refurbished with modern amenities and presented to the tourists as a heritage resort," he said.

Maharani of Khallikote and senior legislator V Sugnana Kumari Deo has evinced her keenness to develop the resort into a full-fledged one. "It will be the most attractive ecotourism resort in the Chilika", she said.

Minister Mishra said the State-owned Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), along with private partners, would run the ecotourism complex. Swiss tent accommodations would be made available in the Honeymoon Island, he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chilika, the largest blue lagoon of Asia along with a cluster of tiny islands, presents a unique assemblage of marine, brackish and fresh water ecosystem. Islands like Honeymoon, Bird’s, Breakfast, Sago and Rajhans in the lake with their own characters and distinct features allure the tourists.