___________

As per the article below the six most backward districts of Odisha are: Gajapati, Kandhamal, Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur.

See our earlier posting at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/5102 for various data about these districts. In particular the ST% of these six districts are as follows:

• Gajapati: 47.88%
• Koraput: 50.67%
• Malkangiri: 58.36%
• Nawarangpur: 55.27%
• Phulbani (Kandhamala): 51.51%
• Rayagada: 56.04%

The ST% of the other districts which we earlier identified as backward are:

• Bolangir: 22.06%
• Boudh: 12.92%
• Kalahandi: 28.88%
• Keonjhar: 44.52%
• Mayurbhanj: 57.87%
• Nuapada: 35.95%

One other point to note is Sundergarh has 50.74% tribal population. Yet it is not a backward state. The reason is "Rourkela". I hope the people who blindly oppose industries in the backward districts would take note of this fact.

Following is an excerpt from http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_archives-are-just-not-enough_1568965.

Bhubaneshwar, in Orissa, would seem like a rather laid-back capital city for those who’ve lived in some of the fast paced metros of the country. But what stands out at every corner and along the length of the roads here is the fact that the city does more than its best to showcase its traditional art forms by making it part of the graffiti on compound walls. That’s not all. It also brags of not one, but three extremely well maintained museums — there’s the state museum, the tribal art museum and the contemporary museum — that can give tourists and visitors an impressive glimpse into the culture and tradition of the city, which could date back to 1,000 BC. Orissa is probably one of the very few states that can also brag of letting a section of their forests and its inhabitants (read tribal groups) untouched and unharmed even today.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has made it clear to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Director General VK Saraswat that his Government would not allow use of the State’s coastline for carrying out seaward artillery practice and manoeuvres.

This is the State Government’s reaction to the objection raised by the DRDO to the setting up of three minor ports in Balasore. If the DRDO is not bothered about the State’s development, what is the point in giving permission to use its coastline, Patnaik reportedly told Saraswat when both met here on Thursday.

… The DRDO had been conducting field firing and artillery practice along the seacoast in the districts of Balasore and Bhadrak since long. The State Government was giving permission to the DRDO without any objections. This time, however, the State Government refused permission for the purpose, as a result of which no field firing and artillery practice has taken place since April, 2011.

… “Our appeal to the Centre seeking the DRDO’s no-objection for setting up ports not harming the DRDO activities remained unheard. Even they did not listen to our grievances. It was the only way out for the State not to renew the mandatory permission to the DRDO,” said a senior State official.

With the State Government hardening its stand, Dr Saraswat rushed to the State capital and met the Chief Minister. However, Patnaik, sources said, sounded a “big no” to the DRDO chief.

Besides working together on the port locations that suits both parties, Odisha should push the defense department/DRDO for other contributions such as a medical college and an institute like IIST (Indian Institute of Space Technology) Trivendrum.

We present a set of maps that illustrate the districts that are behind the rest of the state and that need special attention.

In the following map the blue path is the divided 2 lane Vijaywada-Ranchi highway; the red one, already a 4-lane highway as part of the Golden Quadrilateral will become a 6-lane highway; and the orange (state/PPP funded) and pink (part of NHDP) ones will be 4-lane highways.

Based on the above data the backward districts of Odisha are clustered in the north and south as given in the map below.

The various phases of NHDP and their meaning, as obtained from wikipedia,  is as follows:

Phase I: The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ; 5,846 km) connecting the four major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

* In Odisha: Part of the GQ connecting Kolkata to Chennai.

Phase II: North-South and East-West corridors comprising national highways connecting four extreme points of the country. The North-South and East-West Corridor (NS-EW; 7,300 km) connecting Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, including spur from Salem to Kanyakumari (Via Coimbatore and Kochi) and Silchar in the east to Porbandar in the west.

* In Odisha None

Phase III: The government recently approved NHDP-III to upgrade 12,109 km (7,524 mi)of national highways on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, which takes into account high-density traffic, connectivity of state capitals via NHDP Phase I and II, and connectivity to centres of economic importance. contracts have been awarded for a 2,075 km (1,289 mi).

* In Odisha (From http://www.nhai.org/nhdpphase3.asp.)

• Panikholi-Keonjhar- Rimoli, NH 215, 106kms
• Duburi – Talcher, NH 200, 98kms
• Bhubneshwar-Puri(Approved Length 59 Km) 203 67
• Chandikhole-Duburi 200 39
• Rimoli – Roxy – Rajamunda(Approved Length 163Km) 215 96
• Sambalpur-Baragarh-Chattisgarh/Orrisa Border 6 88 Balance for award

Phase IV: The government is considering widening 20,000 km (12,000 mi) of highway that were not part of Phase I, II, or III. Phase IV will convert existing single lane highways into two lanes with paved shoulders. The plan will soon be presented to the government for approval.

* In Odisha (From http://www.nhai.org/ppp.htm.)

• Birmitrapur-Barkote 23 Orissa 128 778.15 IV Aug’11
• Angul-Sambalpur 42 Orissa 153 1220.32 IV Aug’11
• Cuttak-Angul 42 Orissa 112 1123.69 IV Sep’11  [4 laning approved by finance ministry panel, Sept 2011]

Phase V: As road traffic increases over time, a number of four lane highways will need to be upgraded/expanded to six lanes. The current plan calls for upgrade of about 5,000 km (3,100 mi) of four-lane roads, although the government has not yet identified the stretches.

* In Odisha (From http://www.nhai.org/nhdpphase5.asp.)

• Six Laning of Chandikhol-Jagatpur-Bhubaneswar(Approved Length 61 Km) 5 67
• Dhankuni-Balasore (Orissa portion Balasore – Laxmannath) 2 , 6& 60 235.68
• Bhubneshwar-Ichchapuram 5 164.33
• Balasore –Chandikhol 5 138.14

Phase VI: The government is working on constructing expressways that would connect major commercial and industrial townships. It has already identified 400 km (250 mi) of Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Mumbai section that would connect to the existing Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Ahmedabad section. The World Bank is studying this project. The project will be funded on BOT basis. The 334 km (208 mi) Expressway between Chennai—Bangalore and 277 km (172 mi) Expressway between Kolkata—Dhanbad has been identified and feasibility study and DPR contract has been awarded by NHAI.

* In Odisha: None yet.

Phase VII: This phase calls for improvements to city road networks by adding ring roads to enable easier connectivity with national highways to important cities. In addition, improvements will be made to stretches of national highways that require additional flyovers and bypasses given population and housing growth along the highways and increasing traffic. The government has not yet identified a firm investment plan for this phase.

* In Odisha: None yet.

In addition to the above some of the other major highway development activities are:

• Sambalpur-Rourkela (SH-10) : Widening from two lane to Four Lane Divided Carriage Way – Flexible Pavement with Hard Shoulder. This is being done via PPP by the state.
• Capital Region Ring Road (CRRR): New Construction for     4-lane bituminous road in phases with 2-lane road in Phase-1. This is to be done via PPP by the state.
• Bhubaneswar-Paradeep: New Construction for  4-lane bituminous road. Possibly as part of the Paradeep PCPIR.
• Green Field Coastal Corridor from Astarang to Dhamara via Paradeep:  Possibly as part of the Paradeep PCPIR.
• Vijaywada – Ranch highway: Got approval of Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure in October 2010 for a total budget of 1200 crores. The detailed route and map is at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1247. The path is Motu – Malkangiri – Jeypore – Koraput – Laxmipur – Rayagada – Digapahandi – Aska – Bhanjanagar – Sankarkhol – Phulbani – Boudha – Kiakata – Rairakhol – Nakti Deol – Chhendipada – Deogarh – Keonjhar – Dhenkikote – Tongabilla – Rairangpur – Jharkhand border

The following annotated map shows the above highways on the Odisha map.

The blue path is the divided 2 lane Vijaywada-Ranchi highway; the red one, already a 4-lane highway as part of the Golden Quadrilateral will become a 6-lane highway; and the orange (state/PPP funded) and pink (part of NHDP) ones will be 4-lane highways. I believe soon the remaining parts of NH 5 (for port connectivity to ports in Balasore district) and NH 6  (as it connects Mumbai-Kolkata) will also become 4-lane highways and all the new ports coming up will be connected to the GQ by 4-lane highways.

The concern is the bottom half of Odisha which will not have good roads except the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway. Unless particular attention is paid to that part, it will fall further behind.

The expressway plan at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/topics/tnc-all/roads-and-highways-infrastructure-in-orissa/expressways does cover all of Odisha in phases. If parts of it can be expedited then it will help.

Following is from http://www.nhai.org/ppp.htm.

In 2006 I wrote a letter to the Tata’ on their 100+ years of exploitation of Odisha in terms of taking minerals at throw away prices from Odisha and doing major CSR and development outside Odisha and contributing very little to Odisha per say, but a lot to India though. Following is are excerpts from a news item in Financial Express. If what is mentioned there really happens Odisha will half forgive the Tatas.

Tata Motors is likely to set up an automobile unit at the Gopalpur SEZ Industrial Park, which has been developed by Tata Steel.

“Talks are going on with Tata Motors to set up an automobile unit at the Gopalpur SEZ in Orissa,” said a senior executive of Tata Steel.

He said Tata Steel  … plans to manufacture finished products for the automobile industry.

“Obviously we would like to have Tata Motors set up its unit at the Gopalpur SEZ Industrial Park,” the chief resident executive of Tata Steel in Orissa, Rajesh Chintak, told FE. He said that the proposed industrial park will have a separate zone for the automobile and the auto-component industry, adding that the park is now generating a lot of interest among investors.

Chintak also said that the company is now concentrating on developing the park. Once the infrastructure is ready a clear picture of the possible investments will emerge, he added.

The Orissa government, in fact, is lobbying with the Tatas to set up an automobile unit in the Gopalpur SEZ. Even when Tata Motors withdrew the Nano project from Singur, the Orissa government tried to convince the automobile company to relocate the unit in Gopalpur.

Tata Steel, which is developing the SEZ Industrial Park over an area of 3,700 acres is proposing to set up a ferro-alloys plant with a capacity of 50,000 tonnes and a 4-lakh tonne cold roll re-bar mill with an investment of R10,000 crore to R15,000 crore as anchor tenant.

The managing director of Tata Steel HM Nerurkar … said the Gopalpur Park has received SEZ status. He said that the construction work for the project would be started once the statutory clearances like the environmental clearance are obtained.

The managing director said the first phase of the Kalinga Nagar steel plant will be operational by January or February 2014.

Update: The complete list of the 351 villages is given below.

The villages mentioned in the three articles below are:

North: Bada Tulsipur, Barabati, Bhagda, Chakradharpur, Paikasahi, Paikirapur, Ramdaspur, Sanatulsipur, Talbast

East: Aampada, Aradiapada, Danahara, Dorabhanga, Kulatira gaon, Mahidharapada, Majhihaar, Mukund, Saheb nagar, Taraboi.

South: Aanlajodi, Basantpur, Bijipur, Chhatrama, Mahatapalla, Mukundpur hata, Sonapada

West: Baudatangi, Baulapatna, Dadhimachhagadia, Kapileshwarpur, Pangarsingha, Somanathpur, Swapneswarpur, Talagada

NACs: Jatani, Khurda, Pipli.

Following are excerpts from a report in Telegraph.

Bhubaneswar Development Authority’s jurisdiction has increased from 419sqkm to almost 1,000sqkm with 351 more villages being brought under its fold.

At a decision taken on Saturday, places such as Pipili and Delanga will come under the jurisdiction of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA). With this, the total number of villages under the authority’s fold has gone up from 205 to 556.

… Therefore, they were struck off the list. The new additions will have 263 villages from Khurda and 88 from Puri district.

… Sources said earlier the developmental drive had been largely restricted to the Phulanakhara-Khurda stretch. However, with the expansion of the surrounding areas, the development zone would form a circle like structure.

While in north, it would include villages such as, Bhagda, Paikirapur, Barbati and Talabast, in south, it would have Chhatrama, Bijipur and Mukundpur.

Likewise in the east it would have Dorabanga, Danahara and Saheb Nagar while Dadhimachh Gadia, Somanathpur and Talagada in the west.

Planning member of the BDA Prashant Kumar Patnaik said: “Immediately we will go for a comprehensive development plan of the newly included area.

Following are from Sambada and Samaja:

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

… Orissa Govt has gone  ahead to make budgetary provisions for providing basic infrastructure to attract the investors to this region. The expenditure requirement was discussed today in a high level meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Bijaya Kumar Patnaik in the Secretariat conference hall.

It has been decided in the meeting that the Project is to  covering 284.15 Sq.Kms. in Jagatsingpur and Kendrapara Districts will be developed in two phases viz. phase-1 covering 195 Sq.kms and phase-11 covering 89 sq. kms. The Project Proposal has been approved by Govt of India. IDCO has been selected as the Nodal Agency and IOCL selected as Anchor Tenant for development of PCPIR. The estimated budget for external infrastructure has been tentatively calculated at Rs.13634 Cr. The entire expenditure has been proposed to be borne jointly by Govt of Odisha, Government of India and Public Private Partnership.

The external infrastructure includes Green Field Coastal Corridor from Astarang to Dhamara via Paradeep ( 140Kms identified under Odisha and Andhra Pradesh PCPIR), Bhubaneswar- Paradeep Corridor(73 Kms.) , other Arterial roads, Port upgradation with new facilities, water supply, Taladanda  & Kendrapara canal lining, Captive Power Plant( 2x500MW) , New sub-stations and feeder lines, rail freight stations along with additional rail sidings, Logistic hubs near Bhutmundei, proposed air port , waste water treatment system and solid waste management. Up gradation of NH-5A ( 78 kms) to 4 lane  and expansion of Cuttack –Paradeep State High Way other important proposed  road projects. The total power requirement has been estimated at 2000 MW.

The demand of water for new projects in region will be 620 MLD  in different phases. Different water treatment systems like CETP & STP have been proposed at each of the chemical parks with estimate of 431 cr. Solid waste management system has been proposed  for disposal  industrial and domestic waste at the estimated cost of 200 Cr. Concerned departments have been directed to take up feasibility assessment and prepare detail project
reports for inclusion in state budget and recommendation to Govt of India for inclusion in 12th  Five Year Plan.

Following is from Dharitri.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Hyderabad-based Raajratna Energy Holdings Private Limited (REHPL), a company engaged in the development of renewable energy projects has announced the commissioning of its 1 MW solar power plant at Sadeipali in western Orissa’s Bolangir district on last Monday.

Incidentally, this is the third grid connected solar power plant in the country. The plant was successfully synchronized with the grid on June 30 this year. This project has been commissioned in a record time of five months at an estimated cost of Rs 16-17 crore.

It has been implemented under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) of Rooftop PV (Photo Voltaic) and Small Solar Power Generation Programme (RPSSGP) Scheme of the Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

The project was executed by AIC Projects GmbH, Germany and KSK Surya-Hyderabad. REHPL has expressed its gratitude to Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) for its timely funding of the project.

To give a boost to solar power generation, Gridco had signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with eight solar developers, each with a capacity of 1 MW. It had also inked an MoU with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) to avail generation based incentive (GBI) under the Union ministry of new & renewable energy (MNRE) through IREDA under Rooftop Photovoltaic and Small Solar Generation Programme (RPSSGP) scheme.

In addition to this, Gridco had also entered into power sale agreement with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of NTPC Ltd, to avail solar power bundled with equivalent capacity of thermal power from unallocated share of upcoming NTPC stations under ‘New Solar Projects’ scheme of MNRE. Under the said scheme, 20 MW of solar power has been allocated to Gridco. 

Update on July 12 2011: As per a report in Business Standard:

The financial ministry approves the four laning of Angul-Sambalpur section of NH 42 in Orissa for Rs 1,220.32 crore and two/four laning of Birmitrapur to Barkote section in Orissa (Rs 778.15 crore). These are to be done via PPP.

Original part published on: June 19th. 2008, 11:55pm

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

The Lok Sabha petitions committee rapped the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for the inordinate delay in four-laning of the National Highway No 42 from Angul to Sambalpur. As a number of steel industries and thermal power plants are coming up in Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Angul and Dhenkanal districts, traffic on this route has increased manifold. The State Government has been demanding the NHAI for further widening of this route in view of movement of large number of heavy vehicles. The petitions committee chaired by Pabhunath Singh met at Delhi recently and sought to know from the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways about the delay in four-laning the road. The NHAI officials reportedly told the committee that the proposal of the State had been approved. After survey on traffic intensity on the route, the 107-km stretch between Manguli and Angul has been been identified for four-laning. The Ministry has made a budgetary provision of Rs 2.3 crore in the current year�s budget for feasibility study and preparation of detailed project report (DPR). Steps have been taken to engage a consultant for DPR preparation. … Dharmendra Pradhan, a member of the committee, reportedly suggested that the four-laning should be done up to Jarpada in view of the steel project coming up there. However, the Ministry officials said that there is no proposal for four-laning beyond Angul. On the development of 209-km-long NH-23 from Banarpal to Birmitrapur, the Ministry said that widening of 9- km road to two lane is in progress and the four-laning of Birmitrapur to Rajamunda depends of the traffic intensity. A consultant has been appointed for feasibility study.

(Thanks to Devasis Sarangi for the pointers.)

Update: See also http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Technology-propels-late-baby-boom/articleshow/9328807.cms. Following are some excerpts.

The twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have around 50 fertility clinics offering various treatment options, apart from helping to procure donor eggs and sperms. "Most couples prefer their own donors for eggs and sperms though we also arrange them on demand from authorized agencies," said Dr Prabhat Nalini Mohanty, another fertility expert in Bhubaneswar.

"We can also help provide a surrogate mother if a family wants," said Dr Mohanty, who claims to have performed Orissa’s first surrogate delivery last year.

The cost of treatment varies from person to person depending on treatment options. "It can cost anything between Rs 50,000 to over a lakh. It depends on the woman’s condition," Mohanty said.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

After committing investments on a new six million-tonne-per-annum (mtpa) steel plant, a captive power plant and a coal-to-liquid project in Orissa, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has evinced interest on setting up a captive port in Ganjam district.

It involves a capital cost of Rs 1,424 crore, while the operational cost of running the port would be Rs 152 crore per annum. The first phase is scheduled to be operational by 2017.

The location is 30 km south of the existing Gopalpur port and 18 km from Berhampur.

JSPL today made a presentation to the state commerce and transport department on the proposed port at the mouth of the Bahuda river, a perennial port. The port does not require acquisition of farm land and there are no issues involved with nesting of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles in the area.

… The captive port will handle capesize vessels (150,000 or dwt) for coal and coke and Handymax vessels (50,000 dwt) for general cargo. During the first phase, the port will have two dedicated berths for handling coal and limestone and one berth for general cargo. The port is anticipated to handle about 33 million tonnes per annum of coal and other import items. Six capesize vessels of 150,000 dwt would make 36 visits each per annum for 33 mtpa of coal and other export items.

Work on the second phase is set to begin after 2017, when the port will have three more general berths.

By 2017, the port is expected to handle 4.93 million tonnes (mt) of steel coils and 900,000 tonnes of steel plates. Similarly, the company will import 5.5 mt of coking coal, 7.46 mt of non-coking coal, 2.6 mt of limestone and 3.7 mt of dolomite through this port by that period.

By 2020, the export of coils from the port is projected at 9 mt. Likewise, JSPL would import 12.6 mt coking coal, 7.5 mt non-coking coal, 4.4 mt limestone and 4.7 mt dolomite.

The multiplier effects of the port include revenue from cargo handling, regional economic development, and employment generation, development of road and rail connectivity and acceleration of local economy as well as that of the state.