The following table (except the last three rows) is from an Odisha government source.  All the amounts are in crores of rupees.

The last three rows are filled by me. The rest is from an Odisha government document.

The above numbers are in Crores of Rupees. In the above "C" denotes Capital, "F" denotes Capital Fund and "R" denotes RVNL funding. The notation ** above means that data is missing.

Now lets do a projection to the future.

Following is from Dharitri.

The above article writes about the analysis of ex-MP Braja Tripathy. His main complaint is that Indian Railways makes 10% of its revenue (about 6000 crores) from Odisha but has spent only 2% of the budget in Odisha; 836 crores out of 41,426 crores. He also says that in 2008-09 the Rail budget had 948.34 crores for Odisha and since then while the revenue and planned expenses have increased 10-15%, Odisha’s rail budget has decreased by 115 crores. 

Mr. Tripathy has a very good point. We made similar points in our page http://kbkrail.orissalinks.com/ and in the article http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1550.

However, I partly agree with the comment made by Mr. Prasanna Mishra; this year’s allotment of 120 crores for the Khurda-Balangir line is pretty good. The Odisha government must facilitate land acquisition so that the full 120 crores is spent this year. That way it can ask for more in the next budget and possibly get it. Otherwise next year Khurda-Balangir will get a smaller allocation and we will be back to square one.

(All numbers above are in Crores of Rupees. Cap means Capital expenditure and RVN means expenditure through Rail Vikas Nigam.)

2006 had a big allocation of 155.6 crores just for Daitari-Bansapani for its completion. With that done, in 2007 Lalu really screwed [pardon my language!] Odisha with respect to the new lines by having a total budget on new lines and gauge conversion of only 132 crores. (There may have been another 20 crores in that budget in the green book.) Things picked up a bit in 2008 and 2009 and finally now, it is at a decent state.

Now we must make sure that by next year there is approval of Buramra-Chakulia and increase in the allocation for all the other projects that are not completed or about to be completed. A sample projected budget (for new lines) that we should aim for the next seven years is as follows.

Other lines that are mentioned in the 2010-11 budget and to be pursued beyond are: Lanjigarh Rd – Phulbani – Talcher, Berhampur – Phulbani, etc.

Update on March 9 2010: As per http://www.khaskhabar.com/daily-news.php?storyid=23144 Mamata Banerjee announced 6 more trains in the Lok Sabha. One of them will pass through Odisha. That one is:

• HWH-Sri Satya Sai Prasanti Nilayam (weekly).

Following are excerpted from the 2010-11 Railway Budget Speech and the Pink Book.

Page 5: In line with our Vision, for the first time ever we are planning a major jump to complete 1,000 route-kms of new lines in one year with our limited resources. This is a path-breaking step, considering the annual average of 180 route kms of new lines in the last 58 years and 219 route-kms in the last five years. If we can achieve this target of 1,000 route-kms, we can also reach the Vision 2020 goal of 25,000 kms.

The House would be glad to know that of the 120 new trains, extensions and increase in frequencies announced, 117 would be flagged off by the end of March 2010. The remaining three would be started on completion of gauge conversion works.

Work has been initiated in all the 67 Multi-functional Complexes (MFCs). Development of Adarsh Stations has also started in phases.

Page 6: Adarsh Stations: Angul, Belpahar, Doikallu, Jakhapura, Jharsuguda, Lanjigarh Road, Lapanga, Meramandali, Raghunathpur, Rengali, Titlagarh Jn.

Page 7: another 93 Multi-functional Complexes – Balasore, Brahmapur, Jharsuguda, Rayagada, Sambalpur

Page 12: Outpatient Departments (OPD) and diagnostic centres – Balasore, Balugaon, Bhadrak, Bhubaneswar, Brahmapur, Jajpur Keonjhar Rd, Jharsuguda, Kantabanji, Kesinga, Khurda Rd, Koraput Jn, Rayagada, Rourkela, Sambalpur Jn, Titlagarh

Page 13: Secondary-level General Speciality Hospitals –  Bhadrak, Brahmapur, Jajpur Keonjhar Rd, Jharsuguda, Kantabanji,  Koraput Jn, Rayagada

Page 14: Tertiary-level Multi-speciality Hospitals – Kantabanji

[In case some may wonder, why Kantabanji, a town of 22K is listed above: My guess is it is because Kantabanji is the constituency of Santosh Singh Saluja, Congress; a senior leader of the opposition in the Orissa legislative assembly.]

Page 15: The railways will also set up four multidisciplinary training centres at Cuttack, Coochbehar, Malda and Jabalpur.

Page 17: set up five state-of-the-art wagon factories in JV/PPP mode at Secunderabad, Barddhaman, Bhubaneshwar/Kalahandi, Guwahati and Haldia.

[It would be great if the above happens in Kalahandi. Kudos to Dr. Digambara Patra and Kalahandi MP Bhakta Das for their efforts on this.]

Page 20: For the remaining four corridors, that is north-south (Delhi, Haryana, UP, MP, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu), east-west (West Bengal, Jharkahnd, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra), east-south (West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh) and south-south (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa), Preliminary Engineering-cum-Traffic Survey (PETS) will be taken up this
year.

Madam, I had declared DFC as the “Diamond Rail Corridor” project of the Indian Railways. On the lines of DFC, we are now planning to go in for Dedicated Passenger Corridor (DPC), which I declare as the “Golden Rail Corridor” of the Indian Railways.

Therefore, I propose to set up a National High Speed Rail Authority for planning, standard setting, implementing and monitoring these projects.

Page 24: In my last budget speech, I had highlighted the need to take up socially desirable projects connecting backward areas. Many proposals for such connectivity have been pending for a long time. It is proposed to update the surveys for the following lines and thereafter these will be processed through Planning Commission for necessary approvals:

Navrangpur-Jeypore

Phulbani-Berhampur

Puri-Konark

Raipur-Jharsuguda

Gunupur-Theruvali

Jeypore-Malkangiri

Page 26: New Line Surveys

Talcher-Phulbani-Lanjigarh

Junagarh-Jaypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam

[The above needs to be pushed hard. It will bring connectivity to the hinterlands and Maoist belt of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.]

Page 29: The sections which have either been completed or will be completed during 2009-10 are:

Lanjigarh – Bhawanipatna of Lanjigarh – Junagarh

[Why no train has been announced to ply on this line?]

Page 30: The sections covering 1021 kms proposed to be completed in 2010-11 are:

Bhawanipatna – Junagarh of Lanjigarh – Junargarh

Khurda – Begunia of Khurda – Bolangir

[Next year the Bhubaneswar – Khurda passenger should be extended to Begunia]

Page 31: The following new line projects have been included in the Budget:- Digha-Jaleshwar

Gauge Conversion: The sections which have either been completed or will be completed during 2009-10 are:

Baripada – Bangriposi of Rupsa – Bangriposi

[Why extension of Baripada express to Bangiriposi was not proposed?]

Page 33: During the current year doubling of about 500 km is likely to be completed. The target for doubling of 700 km has been fixed for 2010-11. The following new doubling works have been included in the Budget:

Talcher-Sambalpur

Delang-Puri

[The above two are important; especially the later as many trains are now being extended to Puri.]

Champajharan-Bimlagarh

Page 35: Port Connectivity 120. In order to promote industrial activity, the State Governments and the Centre are giving thrust on the development of the ports. Ports are expected in the States of Gujarat – Porbander, Sutrapada, Dholera, Mahuva, Hazira, Tuna; Maharashtra – Revas, Dharamtar, Dighi; Karnataka – Karwar; Kerala – Azhikkal, Beypore, Thalassery; Orissa – Astranga, Chudamani, Gopalpur; Andhra Pradesh – Vodarevu, Nizampatnam; West Bengal – Sagar Kapil Muni, Haldia.

Railways will welcome participation under PPP for providing rail connectivity to such ports.

I am happy to inform the Hon’ble Members that Indian Railways would be completing about 2,300 route kms of electrification in the first three years of the XI Plan against the target of 3500 kms for the five year period. Another 2,000 kms are planned in the remaining two years.

The following sections are under active consideration:

Vizianagram-Raigada

In addition to above, feasibility studies for the following sections will be undertaken:

Angul-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda

Page 39 – The following unreserved trains are being proposed for the common people:

ii. Guwahati-Mumbai(Weekly) via Howrah-Tatanagar-Jharsuguda-Bilaspur-Nagpur

Bharat Tirth Trains

139. To support government’s effort of promoting tourism in our country, Railways will launch special tourist trains called “Bharat Tirth” connecting popular tourist sites in different parts of the country

ii. Howrah-Chennai- Puducherry- Madurai – Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari-Bangalore – Mysore – Chennai-Howrah

iii. Howrah- Vizag- Hyderabad- Araku- Howrah

[Why no mention of Bhubaneswar-Puri-Chilika in the above two?]

ix. Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi-Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad

Page 40: Duronto Services

Pune –Howrah AC (Bi- weekly)

Daytime: Puri – Howrah

[Either is not much use for people of Odisha. Hopefully the Duronto concept will soon be revamped to include a few more stops – especially the technical stops – on the way. May be they can say Duranto’s will have at most 2 stops other than the start and end point. In case of Howrah-Puri Duranto the stops could be Bhubaneswar and Kharagpur with the restriction that from HWH-Puri it can pick passengers only at KGP and only drop at BBS and in the reverse directions it can pick passengers at BBS and only drop passengers at KGP.]

Page 41: the following long distance new services are being proposed:

iv. Howrah-Katpadi(Vellore)-Puducherry Express via Bhubaneswar (Weekly)

x. Haldia – Chennai Express (Weekly)

xix. New Jalpaiguri – Chennai Express (Weekly)

xxii. Bhubaneswar-Pune Express (Weekly)

xxxiv. Sambalpur-Howrah Express (Weekly)

[The above may be routed through Angul.]

xlv. Howrah – Berhampur Express (Tri- weekly)

[I think the above refers to Berhampur in Orissa. Note that in the budget speech that same spelling is used in many places to refer to Berhampur in Odisha; for example, when mentioning the Phulbani-Berhampur line. There is a Berhampore Ct station in West Bengal but that is better reachable from Sealdah than HWH and there are many daily trains connecting Sealdah and Berhampore Ct. So a tri-weekly express in that route does not make sense. Now, if indeed this train is between HWH and Berhampur of Odisha then it should be extended to Gunupur and made a daily.]

xlvi. Baripada – Shalimar Intercity Express (Tri – weekly)

l. Howrah – Shirdi Express (Weekly)

li. Puri – Valsad Express (Weekly) via Katni- Bhopal – Vadodara

lii. Puri-Digha Express (Weekly)

Page 43: Madam, I would further like to assure the House that 2937/2938 Gandhidham–Howrah Express will be started by the 10th of March, 2010.

Passenger trains

xiii. Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road Passenger

[How many times a day the above will run?]

xxvi. Naupada-Gunupur Passenger (after gauge conversion)

Page 45:

Increase in frequency of trains

ix. 2807/2808 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Samata Express from 3 days to 5 days

[Very useful for that part of Odisha.]

Extension of trains

x. 2831/2832 Bhubaneswer-Hatia Express to Dhanbad (Tri-weekly)

[Brings new connectivity to Dhanbad.]

xi. 8425/8426 Puri –Raipur Express to Durg

xii. 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur

[Brings express train connectivity to Jeypore and Jagdalpur.]

xiii. 209/210 Puri-Dhenkanal Passenger to Talcher Road (Daily) 

From the pink book: 

New Lines Construction Budget:

Daitari – Banspani (155 km)   75 crores

[In the 2009-10 budget 60 crores was allocated for it and the budget said only 10 crores more was needed for completion, the total budget estimation was 367.1 (cap) + 483.6 (RVN) crores, with 367.1 + 413.6 already spent. But suddenly in the 2010-11 budget the budget estimation is 367.1 + 933.41 (RVN). I.e., it has increased by about 450 crores, there is an allocation of 75 crores, and amount spent so far is 367.1+ 671.85 crores. I wonder if the Bansapani – Barbil proposal has been folded into this with post-budget money allocation and spending in 2009-10. Note that the survey of Bansapani – Barbil was approved in the 2008-09 budget and Odisha has been pushing for this. It would also benefit Indian Railways a lot as it will drastically shorten the time and distance between Barbil and Bansapani. Perhaps this was such a no-brainer that it was folded in to the original project as soon as the survey was done. ]

Lanjigarh Road – Junagarh (56 km) 60 crores

Khurda Road – Bolangir (289 km)  120 crores

Angul – Sukinda Road (98.7 km) 22.50 crores

Haridaspur – Paradeep (82 km) 101 crores

Talcher – Bimlagarh (154 km)  50 crores

Jaleswar – Digha (41 km) 20 crores

[Good allocation for Khurda-balangir and Talcher-Bimlagarh. The state government should gear up on land acquisition  so that the allocated money is actually spent] 

Odisha should push 2-3 more trains to be announced during the debate. My top choices would be:

• Gunupur – Naupada- Berhampur – Bhubaneswar-Rourkela day time express
• Junagarh-Bhawanipatna-Bhubaneswar Express.
• Extend Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Express to Junagarh.

Following are excerpts from a report in expressbuzz.com.

now there are ample opportunities which can help making the district an industrial rich. While an all weather port at Dhamra is on the verge of completion, another port at Kirtania will come up soon. These ports will attract big industrial houses if the government projects the potentiality,” president of BCIC Himanshu Das said.

The industrial body has demanded setting up of a software park in Balasore along with a land bank of 2000 acres for large and medium industries, development of road water supply and drainage system at different industrial estates in the district, setting up of an urban haat, plastic cluster, marketing assistance to SSI units, uninterrupted power supply, development of ancillary industries and proper implementation of single window system.

This apart, BCIC has drawn the attention of the government on transfer of north Orissa railway area (from Lakmannath to Markona) from South Eastern Railway (SER) zone to East Coast zone. “Besides, we want construction of a new railway siding at Bampada as it is essential to have a full-fledged railway siding to meet the enhanced requirement of industries and trade,” Das added.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The state-owned Industrial Infrastructrue Development Corporation (IDCO) chairman-cum-managing director, Priyabrata Patnaik, told reporters that the Union secretary urged the state government to provide land, water linkage and power supply besides other required infrastructrue for the project.

… The PCPIR project, which is going to spread over an area of 250 square kilometers at Paradip with the Indian Oil Corporation’s (IOC) oil refinery as anchor tenant, is expected to attract investment to the tune of Rs 2,75,000 crore.

The major chunk of investment, about Rs 23,000 crore, will come in petroleum and petro-chemical sector.

The project will generate employment opportunity for more than 2 lakh people when it is fully commissioned.

Following are some pointers on PCPIRs.

• Slides on the scheme.

Following strong campaign by the NGOs the mainstream media is all over Vedanta on these issues. Some of their articles and points are available at the following web sites.

• Survival International
• Amnesty International.
• Action Aid International.

Following is Vedanta’s side of the story obtained from http://www.bignews.biz/?id=843650&keys=Vedanta-Amnesty-Lanjigarh-Dongaria.

Vedanta Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh has been built with the state of the art technology and the first Alumina refinery in the country and among few in the world having successfully implemented Zero Discharge System. The environmental measures adopted in the plant with respect to Air and Water Pollution is among the best and performance of the same is being regularly monitored by State pollution Control Board (SPCB). Based on Vedanta’s commitment towards Environmental Protection and Socio-Economic Development of the area, SPCB has renewed its Consent to Operate for 2 years instead of normal 1 year i.e valid upto March 2011. Vedanta’s initiatives for Zero Discharge, Zero Waste and Zero Harm is appreciated at all level and Vedanta’s is committed to become the first Alumina Refinery in the world to achieve this goal very soon.

Today, water and energy consumption at VAL refinery is the lowest in the country and is a proof of Vedanta’s commitment towards environmental protection .The allegation made by Action Aid has already been checked by top world recognized institutions like Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and find no substance in to it.
Regarding leakage- during initial trial runs only in 2007-08, we would like to clarify that no caustic effluent was ever discharged in to the river. On investigation by SPCB and expert team mentioned above, it was established that there was small seepage from the joint between earthen dyke wall and overflow pipes in Red Mud Pond which was collected and recycled back within the bounded area of Red Mud Pond for which provision has been kept in the design of Red Mud Pond by Indian Institute of Science from the beginning.

Vedanta strongly denies any allegations of pollution of the environment in Lanjigarh and of violation of human rights. Vedanta remains fully committed to pursuing all its investments in a responsible manner, respecting the environment and human rights and adopting the best corporate social responsibility standards practices.

Vedanta sustainable development strategy, known as the ‘Vedanta Way’ is all encompassing and comprises the following four principal elements:
• Environmental Stewardship: Respect for nature, enhanced resource conservation and use of environment friendly technology are embodied in our working,
• Nurturing People: People are our key assets. We are committed to build a flexible, flat and learning organization with an engaged and high performing work force. We believe in nurturing and mentoring leaders from within and providing opportunities for growth based on meritocracy, performance and integrity,
• Health and Safety: We are committed to providing a safe, secure and healthy workplace for all employees by using the best technology and practices, and
• Empowering Communities: Communities are integral to our business. We are committed to enhancing the quality of life of the communities near our operations and creating self sustaining communities. We work to gain and nurture our social license to operate in the host communities.

It is only because of support from local community, Vedanta could establish an Alumina refinery after 25 years ( last Alumina Refinery was built and commissioned by NALCO in 1986) in a record time of less than 3 years. With the successful commissioning of proposed expansion of Alumina Refinery and Aluminium Smelter at various location , Vedanta will be the third largest Aluminium Producer in the world.,
Background:

Indian Constitution has made enough safeguard in terms of Act Like PESA, special provision in constitution under Schedule V to protect and ensure development of tribal community. The issues raised by Action Aid regarding Dongaria Kondh and Mining Project were brought before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in IA Nos 1324 and 1474 in W P (C) 202 of 1995 and IA Nos 2081-2082 @ W.P (c) No 549/2007 and a judgement in favour of the project was given.

Kalahandi is one of the most backward and underdeveloped area in the country and known worldwide for years for ill things like Poverty, Hunger, Malnutrition, Drought, Malarial deaths, Cholera and diarrhea ‘s death, low literacy, lack of education and medical facilities even though it is one of richest resource district of Orissa having precious stones, granite, bauxite, limestone etc. Since, implement any large-scale mining operation presents wider environmental and public administrative challenges, this project was initiated by the Indian authorities themselves, having identified this most backward area of India as in need of significant economic investment and social development, as well as the most suitable location for such activities. By way of background, India’s national planning authorities had identified a number of least developed districts of the country, of which Kalahandi is one, which were in need of substantial socio-economic investment. It must be appreciated that a majority of the population in the area where the project is situated lives below the poverty line.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The state government, which acquired around 970 acres of land in the first phase for the Rs 3500-crore project, has now set in motion the process to acquire 626 acres of land for the project in the second phase.

The second phase land acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. The Shamuka tourism project needs 2500-3000 acres of land in all.

The project is being developed near Sipasarubali, about 10 km south of Puri on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

…  After the second phase land acquisition, the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) will invite fresh bids for the project. This has been necessitated as the initial attempt to invite bids for the project received lukewarm response last year.

It may be noted that only three hotel chains had participated in the earlier bidding process for developing the four five star hotels on 100 acres of land. …

The state government had engaged global consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to incorporate some new provisions in the bid document for the Shamuka tourism project so as to make it investor friendly.

… The state government is investing Rs 50-70 crore on providing external infrastructure like electricity and water supply for the five-star hotel properties. Apart from the four five star hotels, the Shmauka tourism project would have facilities like a convention centre of international standards with a seating capacity of nearly 1,500, an 18-hole golf course, boutique hotels, international spa and wellness centres, an entertainment zone and sports facilities.

Following is an excerpt from a report in sify.in.

The state owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) today paid a dividend of Rs 250 crore to the Orissa government for the year 2008-09. …

OMC has been paying dividend continuously for last five years with the dividend increasing from Rs 60 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 200 crore in 2007-08.

…  OMC was able to prove its resilience with the highest turnover of Rs 2085 crore during the year.

The profit before tax (PBT) of OMC increased from Rs 528.04 crore to Rs 1890.22 crore in 2008-09.

Following are excerpts from a beautiful Forbes India piece by Mindtree CEO Subroto Bagchi.

… it is called Dangamal.

This is a tiny village bordering 672 sq. km. of luxuriant mangroves that are home to the giant Indian saltwater crocodiles. It is an unbelievably beautiful and relatively un-spoilt place. There is the usual forest rest house here, but for the real enthusiast, there is tented accommodation of commendable quality run by a first generation woman entrepreneur named Sanghamitra Jena. I am here to see her.

… After some years, when we came back to Bhubaneswar, I contacted the government-run tourist office to check if they ran courses for would-be tour guides. There was a three-month course coming up and I signed up after paying a fee of Rs. 200.

… But how did you end up becoming an entrepreneur?” I ask. “It was a story of adversity,” she says. “After many years in the same organisation, I had to leave because of disagreements with a new supervisor. For a moment, I was at the crossroads. To my surprise and delight, it led to a flood of offers from other tour operators who had known my work. Seeing that, I told myself that these people are reaching out to me because they have confidence that I could bring them business. So why wasn’t I doing it for myself?

“I had a saving of just Rs. 40,000. I bought a laptop and started sending mails to people I knew from a cyber-café. Eastern Treasure India Tours was born. Clients started coming, I took them on my off-the-beaten track tours to not just places in Orissa but also Pelling, Gangtok and Kaziranga. Word spread. Business grew. Then one day, I felt I should have a product that enables the nature-lover to enjoy a place like the mangroves of Dangamal by living in a completely rural setting. So, I came to this village and I leased a plot of land for five years. I started a high-quality, tented accommodation, complete with Western-style toilets and clean food in a completely rural surrounding. I built a make-do Web site so people could check out the options and pay online.”

… I am not in Mumbai or Bangalore. This is Orissa. This is not a land of enterprise. For girls, there is a cul-de-sac called marriage. Yet, here is Sanghamitra who has built a business in the middle of nowhere.
Before we leave for the creeks to see the giant crocs basking under the mangroves, I ask her the size of her business this year.

She is bashful for a moment. Then she replies, “I will touch a crore this year”.

Tathya.in also has a nice article on her at http://www.tathya.in/2009/story.asp?sno=3724.

Links:

• Website of the Eastern India Tours mentioned in the Forbes article: http://easternindiatours.com/index.html.
• Website mentioned in the tathya.in article: http://www.bhitarkanikatour.com/
• Website mentioned in http://www.bhitarkanikatour.com/: http://treasureindiatours.com/
  

Following is obtained from the report http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowBussinessNews.asp?id=16794.

• National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,
• National Rural Health Mission,
• Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission,
• Indira Awas Yojana,
• National Horticulture Mission,
• Indira Gandhi National Pension Yojana,
• Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana,
• Accelerated Irrigatiion Benefit Programme,
• Total Sanitation Campaign,
• Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana,
• Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana.

Update: Following are excerpts from another report in Business Standard which has some extra information.

The port project called Adani Kalinga Port is to be developed in two phases at a distance of three km from Jatadhari Muhan, the proposed site of Posco India’s captive port in the state’s Jagatsinghpur district.

… The proposed port which would have 12 berths in all will handle coal, iron ore, liquid and containerized cargo.

… Besides the port, the Group plans to invest in other sectors in the state like power plant, edible oils and mining.

 

Following is an excerpt from a PTI report in Business Standard.

Ahmadabad-based Adani Group is keen on setting up a large port in Orissa coast and developing an industrial zone, including a power plant, at mammoth investment of Rs 98,000 crore.

A company delegation led by its Managing Director Rajesh S Adani met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here and made a presentation in this regard.

The company informed the state that it was interested in setting up a 100 million tonne capacity port in Jagatsinghpur district, near Paradip Port and a proposed captive port by Posco.

With an initial investment of Rs 5,000 crore, the company has proposed to start the first phase of the Rs 10,000-crore port project in 2013-14 and complete it by 2015-16.

It also has plans to set up an industrial zone close to its proposed port in Jagatsinghpur an investment of Rs 88,000.

…The company plans to send coal after mining at Talcher area, to Gujarat and Maharashtra from the proposed port.

"The coal will be sent after washing. The washery reject coal will be utilised for the proposed power plant," a company official said. The proposed power plant would be a part of the industrial zone.

Following are excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

While MindTree expects to kick off construction work on its Rs 200-crore development centre in the city by June this year, ICICI Bank, which had sought an extension of two years for its Rs 600-crore eastern regional hub, has been asked by the state IT department to start construction work by April.

… MindTree, a global IT and R&D services company, co-headquartered in Bangalore and Somerset in New Jersey (US), had entered into an MoU with the Orissa government in March 2006 for setting up its software development centre spread over 30 acres.

…  MindTree would initially recruit about 1,000 software professionals and eventually ramp up its headcount to 6000. Its development centre in Bhubaneswar will focus on R&D, consultancy and software development.

ICICI bank’s eastern regional hub would have a built-up area of 1.5 million sq ft and it will have a pool of 15,000 employees in the long-run. The project is to be developed in phases over a period of six to seven years.

Genpact Limited, the BPO (business process outsourcing) arm of the US-based General Electric which had announced a Global Delivery Centre in the city has submitted a fresh building plan to the Bhubanewar Development Authority (BDA).

“We are pursuing Genpact’s case with the BDA to expedite the company’s project”, the official said.

Genpact’s centre in the city will have a total built-up area of 7 lakh sq ft. Initially, Genpact would hire 500 people for running its operations and eventually, the headcount will be scaled up to 3,000.

On Raheja Corporation’s IT park, he said, land has been alloted but the company is yet to take physical possession of it. Mumbai-based K Raheja Corporation proposed to set up an IT park in the city over an area of 30 acres at an investment of about Rs 250 crore. This IT park would have a total built-up area of 10 lakh sq ft and it was scheduled to be commissioned within three years. The project would generate employment for nearly 20,000 people.

K Raheja Corporation had signed a MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Orissa government in May 2008 and the IT park was scheduled to be commissioned within three years.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

Aditya Birla Group chairman, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla is very hopeful of completion of the Rs 4,500-crore alumina refinery plant coming up at Kashipur in Koraput district and expansion of Hindalco aluminium smelter project at Hirakud in Sambalpur district. 

… In June last year, the Orissa government had recommended the union mining ministry to allot mining lease of Lakharis bauxite deposit in Koraput district in favour of Hindalco Industries Limited, the flagship company of Aditya Birla Group.

This is the second bauxite deposit to be allotted to the Group, which entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Orissa government in April, 2005 is to set up a world-class aluminium complex in the state.

Officials said the Lakharis mine is estimated to have about 45 million bauxite deposits.

Earlier, the Hindalco was allotted Kodingamali bauxite deposit in the district for its proposed aluminium complex at Kansari.

Aditya Aluminium (another unit of Hindalco) had signed a MoU with the Orissa government on April 8, 2005 to set up an integrated aluminium complex in the state. The project involves a total investment of Rs 11,500 crores for production of 1.5 lakh tones of alumina and 3.25 lakh tonnes of aluminium per annum.

Aditya Aluminium has already signed a joint venture umbrella agreement with the Orissa Mining Corporation for bauxite mining in Koraput district.

The company has sought 2012 acres of land for its refinery and 3331 acres for the smelter, sources said.

The state government is in the process of acquiring land for the project, but faces problem in some villages, the sources added resulting in the delay in grounding of the project.

Gangapada is couple of kilometers before Khurda on the National Highway. The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack CDP proposes the new airport to be located there. Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard about the Vedanta sponsored trauma center coming up there.

The construction work for a 100-beded, state-of-the-art Trauma Care Centre, to be set up by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) in Bhubaneswar, is likely to start soon.

The state government has handed over the required 10 acres of land for the centre which would come up near Gangapada on the national highway No.5 in the Bhubaneswar-Khurda patch. It will handle the ever-increasing trauma cases and an estimated Rs 75 crore is proposed to be spent on the project. HOSMAC Consultant, an internationally reputed hospital maker has been roped in by the company to render its professional expertise for this project, company sources said.

… The setting up the centre assumes importance as the death rate in accidents per hundred population in Orissa at 35 compares unfavourably with the national average. Add to it, there is no specialized trauma centre in the state with latest facilities to cater to the treatment needs. “The proposed centre will have facilities that will cater to patients of all income groups at any point of time.

Update: See inaugural pictures taken by Abhishek Roy at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23140990@N03/.

Following is from the ECOR web site. Thanks to Dilip and Situn for the pointer.

ROURKELA-BHUBANESWAR INTERCITY TO BE INTRODUCED; FREQUENCY OF BHUBANESWAR-LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS (LTT) SUPER FAST EXPRESS INCREASED

Bhubaneswar, February 10, 2010

Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express from 13th February 2010 and increase the frequency of Bhubaneswar-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Super fast Express from weekly to bi-weekly with effect from 18th February 2010.

On the inaugural day 8105 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express will be introduced from Rourkela on 13th February 2010, but the usual run of service for this train will commence from 15th February 2010 in both the directions. This train will run daily except Sundays.             

8105 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express will leave Rourkela at 05.30 a.m. and will arrive at Bhubaneswar at 01.00 p.m. In the return direction, 8106 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express will leave Bhubaneswar at 01.35 p.m. and will arrive at Rourkela at 09.30 p.m.              

This train has One AC Chair Car, Four Second Class Chair Car, Four General Second Class and two Guard cum Luggage Vans in its composition having stoppages at Dhenkanal, Talcher Road, Angul, Rairakhol, Sambalpur City, Rengali, Jharsuguda, Bamra and Rajgangpur between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

BHUBANESWAR-LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS (LTT) EXPRESS               

It has also been decided to increase the frequency of 2880/2879 Bhubaneswar-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Super Fast Express from weekly to bi-weekly w.e.f 18th February 2010 from Bhubaneswar on every Monday & Thursday and w.e.f 20th February 2010 from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) on every Wednesday & Saturday.                

The composition of this train has been increased from 16 coaches to 22 coaches. The train will now run with its new composition i.e. One AC-2 tier, Three AC-3 tier, 11 Sleeper Class, Four General Second Class Coaches, Two Guard cum luggage van and one Pantry Car. The scheduled timings and stoppages for this train at different places will remain unchanged.

In regards to the 2879/80 BBS-LTT, as we wrote in http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2543, although the frequency was announced to be biweekly in 2008-2009 budget, when it was initially implemented it was implemented as a weekly train. Finally it is becoming biweekly. Note that in the 2009-2010 Rail budget and in November 2009 time table there was an announcement for a 2745/2746 Puri-LTT weekly express. That is yet to be implemented. It should get implemented before the next budget.

Following is an excerpt from a Business Standard report in sify.com.

"We had a recent review meeting on the status of DLF’s Infopark project with the company’s executive director. The real estate player is committed to kick off work on its Infopark project by April 1 this year", said Pradipta K Mohapatra, the state IT secretary.

DLF has sought some changes in the contour of the project to be developed over 54 acres near Infocity region of the city. It is keen on setting aside a greater area for non-processing facilities like shopping malls and multiplexes.

… DLF is understood to have resumed negotiations with a host of IT players- both large as well as the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for offering its IT workspace to them.

… The DLF Infopark project will be developed in three phases and it comprises an IT block, a luxury hotel, a retail chain, service apartments and recreational facilities with a total built-up space of about 5.5 million sq ft.

For setting up the luxury hotel, DLF had tied up with Hilton, an international hotel chain.

In the first phase, DLF had committed an investment of Rs 300 crore for developing an IT workspace of international standards with a built-up area of 5.7 lakh sq ft.

The first phase was scheduled to be operational within eighteen months to two years after commencement of construction work.

The Infopark project was to generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for over 40,000 people in sectors like IT and ITes (IT enabled services), retail and hospitality.

Following is an excerpt from an IANS report.

JSL Ltd, formerly Jindal Stainless Ltd, signed an agreement with the Orissa government Wednesday to set up a stainless steel park in the state on an investment of Rs.704 crore.

The park would be set up adjacent to its 1.6 million tonne per annum integrated steel project coming up at Kalinga Nagar industrial complex in Jajpur district, …

… The project, to be built on 300 acres, will have 71 units, including a service centre.

More details are in an article in Orissadiary. Following are some excerpts.

JSL Vice – Chairman Jindal said the proposed park would generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for about 3800 and1200 persons, respectively. He added that the project would ensure high tax receipts of around Rs 140 crore for the state government in the first five years in terms of excise and income tax value added products. As per the MoU, JSL will develop the park and provide all infrastructures like boundary wall, roads, drains, research and development centre, power and water supply, railway network, township, school and hospital.

Architectural products, surgical and hospital equipment, hardware, stamping and forging, cold rolling, and re-rolling mills, tube and pipes, heat exchangers, heavy machinery capital goods, kitchenware, lifestyle products and stainless steel composite panel manufacturing units will come up in the park. To mark on the occasion, five companies Empowertrans Private Limited, Jagadamba Exports, Jupitor India, Kraftsware Limited and Kitechen Essentials signed MoUs with the JSL Limited government to set up down stream industries.

Following is an excerpt from an IANS report.

Orissa got its first private software technology park Tuesday. Built on the outskirts of state capital Bhubaneswar by city-based JSS Group, the venture was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The JSS Software Technology Park has a built-up area of about 55,000 square feet and can accommodate about 1,000 IT (Information Technology) professionals, Bijoy K. Sahoo, Chairman of the JSS group told IANS.

The eight-floor building constructed with an investment of Rs.10 crore in the first phase has ready-to-move-in facilities, Sahoo said, adding that two companies have already allotted space and they have begun their operations from today (Tuesday).

JSS has planned to invest Rs.70 crore (Rs.700 million) in the second phase that is scheduled to complete in the next 24 months. The total built up area of the project after second phase expansion would be two lakh square feet, he said.

Following is from JSS’s web page.

Keeping to long standing demands from the Information Techenology (IT)
Companies in the Small and Medium Enterprise (ITSME) Sector, the InterMinisterial standing Committee (IMSC) of Goverment of India has approved the First Private Software Technology Park (STP) of Orissa.The IMSC felt it imprerative to setup a micro,small and madium enterprise(MSME) software park to broaden the export base of the state. The park will enble IT professionals to walk in and to state their business instantly.
The news STP has been christened as JSS software Technology park.The private STP is locted at Infocity in Chandaka ,Bhubaneswar with a view to provide incubation and infrastructure faclities to new ans young entrepreneurs in the MSME sector .Infocity is considered as the biggestITpark in estern India spread over an area of 350 acres, currently housing IT giants like Infosy, Wipro, TCS, Mind Tree ect.

The intelligent building of the JSS STP is spread in sprawing three acre campus and housses state-of-art technology to fulfil the growing demands of highly competent IT professionals.

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

The Nandankanan Zoological Park here will have the largest Orchid House of Orissa soon.

Spread over 5,000 sq ft, the garden will be home to some exotic species which are found in Orissa as well as outside.

… The Nanadankanan Zoo authorities have collected over 156 varieties of orchids belonging to 35 species for the Orchid House which is now awaiting to be thrown open. Altogether, the specially-designed garden will be home to 1,000 plants, Director of Nandankanan Zoological Park Sudarshan Panda said. All the three different types of orchidaceae – epiphytic, subaerial and those growing on the soil are part of the collection.