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Following is a bit of information on Sky Airways:

• A report in Telegraph mentions the following:

… Sky Airways (backed by the M.L. Agarwal group, with business interests in Orissa�s mining and steel sectors) …

Following is an excerpt from a Reuters report.

Officials in Orissa said on Thursday they had earmarked 7,000 acres of government and private land for a steel project proposed by Arcelor Mittal.

Last December, Arcelor Mittal, the world’s biggest steel maker, signed a multi-billion deal with the state government to build the 12 million tonne plant, and is also planning a similar sized steel unit in Jharkhand.

“We have cleared 7,000 acres of land for the steel project and captive power plant so that they can start work (aquiring land),” Orissa’s Industry Secretary Ashok Dalwai told Reuters.

He said most of the land was owned by the state but Arcelor Mittal would have to purchase some from farmers, a potentially controversial process the Orissa government would facilitate.

Hundreds of families are living on the state-owned land and would have to be moved.

The company still has to tie up a mining lease.

… The Arcelor Mittal project also includes a 750 MW power plant. The company had asked for 1,000 acres (400 hectares) on which to build homes for workers, in addition to 7,000 acres for the steel plant itself.

Supporters say the project would provide jobs for 5,500 people directly and another 15,000 indirectly.

In July, Arcelor Mittal Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal had said that a detailed project report would be ready by mid-2008 and the first phase of the plant would be commissioned within four years of the report’s completion.

State officials said on Thursday the project would only get formal clearance once that report had been submitted.

Following are excerpts from a sify.com report.

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is setting up an oil refinery-cum-petrochemical complex at Paradip in Orissa, with an installed capacity of 15 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) at an estimated cost of Rs 25,646 crore.

”The project is expected to be completed by October 2011,” Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He said the land acquisition was carried out by Orissa Government by consent agreement under section 11(2) of the Land Acquisition Act, based on the compensation package for private land fixed by Orissa Government in October, 1999.

IOC has already acquired 3,347 acres of land for Paradip Refinery Project.

The progress made on the various phases of the project includes the construction of bridges over Santra Creek, approach road including railway over-bridge for the refinery connecting NH-5A to refinery site have been completed.

Tecnological selection for all major units has been completed.

Residential accommodation for construction phase, CISF colony, coastal approach road and green belt development are under various stages of construction.

Project Management Consultant (PMC) has been selected for Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase of the project on December 1, 2006.

Patel said the environmental clearance for the project has been received on July 6, 2007.

He added an amount of Rs 2281.87 crore has been sanctioned for Paradip Refinery project for carrying out pre-project activities, out of which, Rs 778.32 crore has been spent as on July 31, this year.

Following is an excerpt from a Pragativadi report.

The state government has decided to set up seven seeds centre in the state to enable the farmers to avail quality seeds without further delay.

According to official sources, the centres would come up at Ganjam, Angul, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Balasore Jajpur and Bhubaneswar.

With this, the total seed centres in the state would go up to nine with two such centres that have been already set up at Rayagada and Bargarh.

The two centres provide certificates on the certified seeds to the farmers.
Apart from this, another centre functioning at Bhubaneswar has been entrusted with checking the quality of seeds.

The state government has also decided to impart training to the farmers about the use of modern cultivation for which it is now contemplating on roping in the National Farmer Extension Management Organisations.

Their web site is www.oredaorissa.com.

Following is a big excerpt from Pioneer on this. (The detailed route and the various proposed stations can be found in this map.)

The inordinate delay in the construction of the Khurda – Balangir railway line has triggered severe public resentment, with people blaming the Centre for, deliberately, deferring the project.

Paucity of funds and delay in land acquisition are said to be the main factors that mar the speedy implementation of the project.

The 339 km long Khurda – Balangir railway line was sanctioned in 1994-95 and had raised the hopes of the people living in this perennially backward and neglected district. The line, which was supposed to run through Nayagarh, Phulbani, Boudh and Sonepur was expected to provide an impetus to the growth of the district.

The estimated cost of the project was Rs 354 crore initially but now the cost has escalated to Rs700 crore. As many as 17 railway stations, 441 bridges, 11 tunnels and 126 level-crossings were to be constructed as part of the project.

The Railway Ministry made a budgetary allocation of Rs15.38 crore in 2004-05 for the project and has this year earmarked Rs 10 crore, following which work on a 22-km stretch from Khurda was undertaken.

But no public representative of the area is happy with the pace of the project. Phulbani MP Sugriba Singh had also raised the issue in the Parliament sometime ago. Singh had also written a letter to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, alleging that even one-tenth of the project’s total budget had not been released so far.

From Arcelor-Mittal’s actions I get the feeling that they are trying to bully the Orissa government. In comparison, Vedanta has been accommodative in its land requirements for the university. But may be the bullying strategy would work for them. However, they got to be careful; if local people get more mad, and the government gets fed up with their bullying then the whole thing may fall apart.

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report.

Demand for creation of a separate Ghumusur district is gaining momentum.

This means, the erstwhile Ganjam district, which was split into two in 1992 , will be further divided. … people from Bhanjanagar area want greater administrative powers on the ground that the sub-divisional headquarters is 100 km away from Ganjam.

Bhanjanagar is the largest administrative and revenue sub-division in the State with eight blocks, five tehsils and five Notified Area Councils (NAC) under it. The RDC (SD) had earlier forwarded the proposal of the agitating mass to the Board of Revenue for consideration.

However, no action was taken, rather the proposal was kept pending till another related proposal was submitted. Last month, the Board of Revenue asked for a detailed proposal for the new district, which was prepared under the supervision of Ganjam Collector V Kartikeyan Pandian and sent for approval.

Presently, Ganjam district has 22 blocks, 14 tehsils, 198 revenue circles, 475 gram panchayats and 3,171 villages with a population of around 31.60 lakh. If Ghumusur district was to be carved out of Ganjam, the proposed district will have eight blocks, four tehsils, 54 revenue circles, 173 gram panchayats and 1,143 villages with a population of 9.84 lakh, the report said.

It also stated that to smoothen the work of the administration, the Aska block be converted into a sub-division comprising nearby blocks. The collectorate for proposed Ghumusur district will be housed at the office of Bhanjanagar Sub- Collector.

Following are excerpts from a report in domain-B.

The Larsen & Toubro Ltd (ECC division) consortium with Italy’s Paul Wurth has been awarded a Rs1,205-crore turnkey construction contract for Bhushan Steel’s 2.5 million TPA blast furnace at its Meramandali plant in Orissa. …

L&T’s share in this project is pegged at Rs760.5 crore from this order, scheduled for completion in April 2010.

Paul Wurth’s scope covers basic engineering, supply of proprietary and special equipment and technical supervisory services while L&T’s scope covers detail engineering, supply of indigenous mechanical, electrical and instrumentation works including complete site services involving civil structural and erection works.

The project is the consortium’s third successive order for the construction of large capacity blast furnaces in the last two years, which is presently executing the 2.5 million TPA (MTPA) blast furnace on turnkey basis for Tata Steel at Jamshedpur, currently nearing completion.

Recently, the consortium bagged another order from Tata Steel for the 3.2 MTPA blast furnace at its Kalinganagar Project. In addition, it also commenced work on the 2.5 MTPA blast furnace for the public sector Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Vishakapatnam.

Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report. (The provisional route of this line can be seen in this map.)

The rail link option was mooted during the setting up of Rourkela Steel Plant (then Hindustan Steel Company Ltd). The German experts linked to the steel plant had foreseen the Bimlagarh-Talcher rail link as a corridor between the key rail routes of Howrah and Mumbai besides Howrah and Madras.

The proposed route is likely to reduce distance between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar by almost 180 km. However, alleged lack of political willingness among the leaders of Orissa is to be blamed for the failure, locals said.

The proposed route is also poised to make mineral transportation more economical by establishing direct rail connection to mines of Ranchi, Bokaro and Bhilai besides key mining zones of Orissa with the Paradip port.

After several mass agitations, the project finally got the approval of the Railway Ministry and a provision to release only Rs 10 to Rs 15 crore annually was made. Going by this count, the project estimated to cost around Rs 750 crore, could take five more decades to complete.

The work is to be carried out by the construction wing of East Coast Railway.

New Indian Express has an article on a company in Orissa that makes fly ash bricks. Following are some excerpts.

… K V K Satyanarayan Murthy ventured into manufacturing fly ash bricks some years ago.

The unit has not only yielded rich dividends he has also won carbon trading points by putting polluting fly ash to good use and earned Rs 2 lakh.

… The entrepreneur, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, benefited from the Community Development Fund of the World Bank too, thanks to Institute for Solid Waste Research and Ecology Balance (INSWAREB), which motivated him to adopt this technology.

The CDM is an arrangement under Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialised countries that have committed to reduce green house emission by investing in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries.

CDM projects also seek to assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development while simultaneously contributing to stabilisation of green house gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Fly ash utilisation programme forms a key component of this mission. Orissa, which is witnessing a spurt in industrial activity, stands to gain immensely from it.

Fly ash utilisation programme forms a key component of this mission. Orissa, which is witnessing a spurt in industrial activity, stands to gain immensely from it.

In fact, the State Government has already constituted a �fly ash/blast furnace slag mission.� INSWAREB, which jointly organised the workshop, has planned big for the State.

Programme coordinator (Orissa) of INSWAREB N Gangadhar Reddy said, their aim would be to promote more and more entrepreneurs in the State to set up fly ash brick kilns and encourage the existing ones to convert their units into this environment-friendly technology.

However, a four percent VAT on these units might come in the way. Narayan Das, who owns Siridi Fly Ash Bricks in Barang, sought a reduction as States like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have only imposed 1 percent VAT.

The New Indian Express has a report regarding plans to revamp the Padmatola Lake in Balasore district to attract eco-tourists. Following is an excerpt.

The lake in a picturesque location at Kansa near Nilagiri, is spread over 41.26 acres. Migratory birds in large numbers visit it during winter. The Kuldiha sanctuary is also about 10 km away.

See http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070723/asp/nation/story_8094453.asp. (Thanks to Manoj Padhi and Orissatoday for the pointer.)

Following up on the report in our previous entry, another political party, albeit with a small presence in Orissa, has come out in support of POSCO. Following is an excerpt from Pioneer.

The Samajwadi Party has lent its support to the pro-Posco villagers in their bid to cooperate with the officials for land acquisition for the company’s steel project. The party’s State president Baisnab Charan Parida, in a statement, said adequate compensation to the evacuees and their proper rehabilitation, training to the local people for employment and a thorough discussion with the supporters and opponents of Posco on development of education, health and communication facilities in the peripheral area by the company official as well as the State Government should be taken up at the earliest.

In an era of globalisation, if a country hesitates to open up its economy and decry establishment of industries by multinationals, it would remain backward, he added.

POSCO has also come up with some novel opportunities for the displaced people. Following are excerpts from a Business Standard report.

Korean major considers offering locals an export market in addition to compensation.

Korean steel giant Posco is taking a novel route to persuade land-owners to sell their land in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district where its Rs 52,000 crore, 12 million tonne steel plant is to be located.

Apart from monetary compensation for the land, Posco is offering the 140-odd fishermen families that will be displaced by India’s largest greenfield steel plant an assured market for dried fish and mango pickle in South Korea.

The company, which has been facing stiff resistance from locals who will lose land to the project, proposes to train fishermen in the area to produce the dried fish coveted by Koreans, according to a Posco India spokesman.

“Around 160 families in the periphery have shown interest and will be included in the programme,” he said. He said some 160 families on the periphery of the project had accepted the proposal.

A similar programme is being planned for betel vine cultivators. “They have shown interest in fruit, especially mangoes. We will get pickle manufacturers to collaborate with them and export these products to South Korea,” he added.

A socio economic survey, which is still being conducted, indicates that there are around 50 betel vine owners and 1,000 cultivators for 1,200 betel vines. “Not just the owners, the cultivators will also be included in the programme,” he said.

The plan has been suggested as a solution to the vexed problem of compensating land-losers by offering them sustainable livelihood. At the same time, it will meet a growing demand for dried fish and pickle in Korea. According to reports, Korea’s imports are expected to exceed exports due to depletion of fish resources. Its pickle demand is primarily met by China.

…“The products developed by the fishermen and betel vine cultivators will be exported to Korea through Posco’s captive port. After meeting the demand in the Korean market, they can be exported to South East Asia,” the spokesman said.

Posco India is currently in the last leg of its land-acquisition programme. Of the required land of 4,004 acres, the Orissa government is to provide 3,566 acres (of which it is yet to get possession). The company will have to buy the remaining 438 acres of land directly from land-owners.

The rehabilitation & periphery development advisory committee (RPDAC) is expected to meet shortly to decide on the compensation package. The committee comprises representatives from the government, the company and the local people.

The private land covers three gram panchayats — Gada Kujanga, Muagaon and Dhinkia, the latter being the largest tract covering 200 acres and has been the most aggressive in leading an agitation against Posco’s steel plant.

However, the Posco spokesman said, things have improved and the survey indicated that around 90 per cent of the people wanted to shift to other means of livelihood.

Following is a report from Samaja on this. This is what more legislators of the area should be doing, but without fighting among themselves.

See http://tathya.in/story.asp?sno=1185.

In the following wikimapia map the location is either to the right or left of the spot labeled as "Patna."