___________

Following is an excerpt from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51774.

The Board of Approval of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) met today consider proposals for setting up of Special Economic Zones and also to approve other miscellaneous requests pertaining to SEZs.

            Addressing the Board of Approval members, the Chairman informed that so far 577 formal approvals have been granted for setting up of SEZs out of which 325 have been notified. He further informed that over Rs.1,16,879 crore have been invested in the Special Economic Zones during this short span of time and direct employment of the order of 4,27,908 persons has been generated in the Special Economic Zones.  During the first quarter of current financial year, total export of Rs.39,411 crore approx. has been made from SEZs.

            In this meeting, 7 proposals for setting up of SEZ were considered.  The Board recommended grant of two formal approvals and one In-Principle Approvals.

·                     Formal Approvals:

Ø                   IT/ITES/BPO/EH – M/s. Brooke Bond Real Estates Private Limited SEZ at Bangalore, Karnataka.

Ø                   EH/ITES – M/s. Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. at Shimoga, Karnataka.

·                     In-Principle Approval:

Ø                   Solar SEZ – M/s. Lanco Solar Pvt. Ltd. at village Ramdaspur, Cuttak District, Orissa.

 

…

(A draft of the Bhubaneswar part of the CDP is at http://www.orissalinks.com/bigfiles/Draft%20Proposal_CDP%20BDPA-2008/).

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business standard.

The implementation of the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of Bhubaneswar prepared by the department of architecture and urban planning of IIT-Kharagpur would involve an investment of Rs 31,450 crore on different sectors by 2030.

Out of the total investment of Rs 31,450 crore, the public investment would be Rs 15,000 crore which is to be raised through a specially created fund called Bhubaneswar Cuttack Urban Complex Infrastructure Fund.

The balance requirement would be met through long-term loans, capital finance through devolution of funds, user charges and improved collection of taxes.

KC Satpathy, planning member, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) said, “Out of the total investment of Rs 31,450 crore for the CDP, the amount spent on traffic and transportation would be Rs 9,990 crore while Rs 7,500 crore would be invested in building 4.31 lakh dwelling units spread over 9,286 acres by 2030.”

The draft CDP of Bhubaneswar is expected to be finalised by the end of October this year, he added. It may be noted that the last CDP for Bhubaneswar was prepared in 1994.

…  Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Dev, commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, “There is scope for developing projects like affordable housing, city transportation, solid waste management and preservation of heritage structures on the public private partnership mode.”

The traffic and transportation plan of the CDP includes among other things the construction of a regional rail passenger terminal facility near Barang at a cost of Rs 400 crore and the setting up of a regional bus passenger terminal facility near Barang at an investment of Rs 100 crore.

Besides, Rs 250 crore would be invested in construction of a multi-modal logistic hub at Jatni while a wholesale trading and truck terminal facility would be set up near Pahala at a cost of Rs 150 crore.

As per the CDP, 4.31 dwelling units would be built in areas like Chandrasekharpur, east Kuakhai, Aigania, Tamando, Gangapada, Bhubaneswar New Town, Khurda and Jatni to help accommodate the projected population of 30 lakh in and around the city by 2030.

The CDP says that the water requirement would reach 88 million gallons per day by 2030 and the plan has envisaged an investment of Rs 1,125 crore to ensure 100 per cent water supply.

The creation of additional social infrastructure facilities including schools, colleges, hospitals, telecommunications facilities, postal services, recreation halls, commercial banks, parks and playgrounds, community halls and electricity substations by 2030 would involve an investment of Rs 3,310 crore.

The CDP has also emphasised on development of tourism projects. According to the CDP, 316 hectares of land in and around the city would be earmarked for various tourism projects at a cost of Rs 580 crore.

Moreover, Rs 300 crore would be invested on preservation and promotion of heritage structures in Bhubaneswar and Khurda.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

… IL&FS-IDC had earlier submitted its draft report to the state government in February this year. However, the project had to be reworked by IL&FS-IDC in the wake of the Centre’s proposal to develop an airport in the same area.

Sources close to the development said, the plan to develop the airport has been okayed by the state government and the proposed airport would be a part of the IT investment region.

The airport will come up on an area of about 2,300 acres close to the site of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Orissa which is being set up over 835 acres of land at Jatni, about 20 km from the city.

… The IT investment region (ITIR) in Orissa will occupy an area of 40 sq km (around 10,000 acres) between Bhubaneswar and Khurda.

This ITIR project is expected to be fully operational by 2020.In the final project report, IL&FS-IDC had included among other things an airport, a global IT training centre, a bio-tech park and a science city spread over 350 acres.

The Infocity-II project being set up by the state government on over 600 acres of land at Janla on the outskirts of the city would also be a part of the IT investment region.

The ITIR would be developed in two phases out of which 20 per cent of the investment is committed for the first phase while the balance 80 per cent of the investment will come in the second phase.

The entire cost of the project is yet to be ascertained. While the Centre will provide external infrastructure for the project in the form of roads, the onus is on the state government to acquire land for the project.

According to the project plan of IL&FS-IDC, 40 per cent of the area of the ITIR would be earmarked for the processing units of information technology (IT) and ITes sectors (IT enabled services) as well as electronics and hardware manufacturing units.

The remaining 60 per cent of the area would be devoted to the non-processing facilities like research and development centre, technological institutes of national and international repute.

This apart there would be a central business district, an integrated township comprising social infrastructure facilities like schools, hospitals and shopping malls and external infrastructure like roads.

An excellent blog on Berhampur’s growth is at http://futureberhampur.blogspot.com/.

(Thanks to reader Abhisek for the pointers.)

The following is from Orissa gazette of December 30 2008 making the declaration.

 

EXTRAORDINARY

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

No. 2382, CUTTACK, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008/PAUSA 9, 1930

HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

NOTIFICATION

The 29th December 2008

S.R.O. No. 641/2008

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 243 Q of the Constitution of India the Governor of Orissa hereby specifies the local area comprising the whole of the Berhampur Municipal Council in the district of Ganjam with the boundaries described in the Schedule given below as a larger urban area.

SCHEDULE

North : Chandaniapahada, Ambagada, Ratnapur, Jagadalpur, Nimakhandi, Luchapada, Bhavinipur, Bada Gumula, Pali Gumula, Sana Kausasthali and Narendrapur.

South : Aruva pali, Ganja, Brahmapali, Khajuria, Phulata, Haladiapadar.

East : Raghunathpur, Pathura, Dura, Mandiapalli, Aruvapali.

West : Bendalia Lathi, Sukunda, Chandania pahada, Ambagada.

[No. 33010-Ele(Con)6/2008/HUD.]

By order of the Governor

Dr. A.K.PANDA

Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government

Following are some excerpts from a report in Hindu.

The Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) organised a launching workshop on Saturday on the preparations of Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for a greater Berhampur. The CDP is to be prepared by the Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO), the technical advisory body of Central Ministry of Urban Development. The new master plan would be Geographical Information System (GIS)-based. It would depend on remote sensing data provided by satellites as well as the ground level data collected through surveys. …

The preparation of the CDP would cost around Rs. 1,09,75,000. The State Government, which would bear the cost, has provided Rs. 35.50 lakhs for it in the first phase.

It may be noted that Berhampur, a major trading and cultural centre had its last master plan way back in 1969. This master plan envisioned the urban growth and required basic amenities for a population of over two lakh persons by the year 1986. The present CDP however would provide urban development plan for the area now under the BDA which includes areas of urban bodies like Berhampur, Gopalpur and Chatrapur and 139 villages. This would be part of the greater Berhampur with a vision of development for next 30 years. The CDP would comprise a total area of 317 square km having a population of 5,13,760 persons. It is expected that the CDP would be ready in 18 months.

Economic Times has an article each on Jharkhand and Orissa’s mineral reserves and the current industrial climates and mineral policies of  both states. The two articles are:

• On Jharkhand.
• On Orissa.

Following are some additional comparison between both states:

• Orissa being a coastal state has coast related opportunities (ports) as well as problems (hurricanes, floods)
• Jharkhand has more larger metro areas than Orissa. Following are some population numbers.
  • Jharkhand’s top 4 metro areas are: Ranchi (1.07 m), Jamshedpur (1.25m), Dhanbad (1.21 m) and Bokaro (592k).
  • Asansol (West Bengal) with population of 1.3m borders Jharkhand (59km from Dhanbad) and together with Durgapur (544 K, 40 kms from Asansol) is being built as the second largest metro area of West Bengal.
  • Orissa’s top 4 metro areas are: Bhubaneswar-Cuttack metro (1.67m in Gazeteer, 1.9m in CPD estimate), Rourkela city (551K in gazeteer, 1.1 m unofficially estimated in metro area), Berhampur metro (514K in CPD estimate), and Sambalpur city (258K in Gazeteer).
• At present Orissa is a bigger knowledge and education hub.
• Orissa has more well known tourist locations.

Following is from http://164.100.24.207/synopsis/15/II/Synopsis-17-07-2009.pdf. Thanks to http://twitter.com/mensrightsindia for the link.

 

PRIVATE MEMBER’S BILL UNDERDEVELOPED AND BACKWARD AREAS AND REGIONS (SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT) BILL, 2009

SHRI BAIJAYANT PANDA Initiating, said:

The Indian Constitution is one of the most widely lauded documents of its nature anywhere in the world. The Indian Constitution recognizes every citizen as equal irrespective of caste, creed, religious background and many other criteria, the fact remains that hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens are not equal, because of no fault of theirs. It is true that barriers of caste, barriers of religion affect many Indian citizens but the fact remains that one of the biggest predictors of the disadvantaged in our country is simply an accident of birth and that can be related to the region that they are born in. I have here with me a map which indicates the income patterns of various regions of various States in our country. When you look at the regions that are disadvantaged, you recognize that not a small proportion but rather a significant proportion of our population is disadvantaged simply by virtue of having been born in these regions and not having the same opportunities as the other Indian citizens have in other parts of the country. It is also obvious that it is these disadvantaged regions which are the breeding grounds of disaffection, naxalism and extremist movement. If we are to tackle these problems which challenge the India nation, our approach has to focus on the developmental requirements of these regions, particularly these backward regions which have been left behind.

It is a matter of national shame that 62 years after we gained Independence, there is such an imbalance. Because of our economic growth of the last decade and a half, we are being talked about as an economic super power in the making. But the fact remains that any super power status that is conferred upon us by the rest of the world is going to be marred if such a large percentage of our population, such sections of our geography are going to be left behind. As regards the official Below Poverty Lines statistics, my own home State of Orissa has a Below Poverty Line percentage of population of more than 45 per cent. The State of Bihar has more than 42 per cent of the people falling into this category of Below Poverty Line people. The state of Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim have 37 and 35 per cent of their people falling in this category. By some criteria and by some estimates, as many as 800 million people in India can be defined as poor by an Independent yardstick. But even if we just stick to the official definition, even if we just stick to official statistics, it is clear that we need to do an enormous amount of work to ensure that this regional disparity does not continue. Often we are given a picture that the Centre’s job is to legislate, is to plan, is to even accord financial help, but the actual job of implementation is the States. We recognize that, but national responsibility cannot be declined. The ultimate responsibility for the country’s performance is of the Central Government. Large chunks of our population from these regions actually hold the Centre responsible for their predicament. The Central decision of imposing a command economy on the country cost us very dearly in certain parts of the country. States like Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal have a certain advantage, a natural economic advantage, having mineral wealth. This should have led to the natural situation that investment in those industries should have come to those States and they should have benefited from it. It did not happen. So, the Central Government do bear a responsibility for making sure that these parts of our country are helped, are given a helping hand to be brought up. Orissa has immense mineral potential. But for 50 years, it was held back. Everywhere in the world mineral royalties have been based on a principle known as ad valorem. But in India, the royalties were not ad valorem till recently. Now gradually they have started becoming so with still a few exceptions left. The disaffection that my fellow citizens feel in Orissa, in Bihar, in Chhattisgarh, and in all these States is but natural, is but justified. I would like to make a mention about the Railways. State of Orissa has one of the lowest railway network in the country, whereas our neighbouring States have the highest percentage of rail track in the country. If this is not discrimination, then tell me what discrimination is. I would like to mention that some of these States like Bihar and Orissa have, for decades, been asking for a special category status. But it has not been accorded. It is left to the State Government alone to take up the burden of development in these areas, which is simply not justified. An unbiased look needs to be taken. Certain changes in policy have to be made. We should take development to each and every village otherwise there is no way we can make the case that we should all live in harmony. I would like to point out that there are many pioneering efforts. At the national level itself, there is, of course, the Planning Commission. But the net result is that such large parts of the country are still neglected. I am not criticizing the Planning Commission. I am just saying that for a country of this size, things cannot be that centralized. They need to be decentralized. There should be a National Authority headed by the Prime Minster himself to deal with all the areas, which fall into this category. I hope, I would get the support of the Government in bringing about such a legislation so that these areas of lack of development can be attended to, otherwise, I put it to this House that these areas would get left behind for longer.

This is a beautiful speech.

MP Baijayant Panda has introduced several private bills in the parliament. This is a great step.

It is time Orissa leaders, including its CM, get smarter and move away from repeating slogans and demands which have been repeated so much that they now have zero or negative effect on the PM, GOI or national leaders. Here I am referring to the slogans and demands such as: "Step-motherly attitude of the center towards Orissa", "Special category state status for Orissa", etc. Even though there is a basis behind these demands and slogans their effectiveness has worn out and they should not be mouthed for some time now.

Instead the approach taken by MP Jay Panda is the right way to go. Broaden Orissa’s concerns to a regional or a national concern. That way there is much higher chance of the right people paying attention to it and doing something about it.

In this regard the following private bills that were introduced by Jay Panda are a  great step. The bills are:

• Underdeveloped and Backward Areas and Regions (Special Provisions for Accelerated Development) Bill, 2009

a Bill to provide for the establishment of an autonomous central Authority to ensure rapid, accelerated and overall development of poor, underdeveloped and backward areas and regions of the country which lag behind in matters of development of infrastructure in economic, social, educational, technical and industrial fields and assure their speedy development in a planned manner and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

• Persons Affected by Naxalite Terrorism (Relief and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2009

a Bill to provide for relief, compensation and rehabilitation measures through employment and other means for the persons affected by naxalites or maoist terrorism in various parts of the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

• Citizens Affected by Cyclone, Super Cyclone or Tsunami in Coastal Areas (Compensation, Rehabilitation and Welfare Bill, 2009

a Bill to provide for the protection of citizens living in coastal areas affected by cyclone or super cyclone or tsunami or any other natural calamity in the coastal areas of the country by providing adequate compensation, rehabilitation and welfare measures and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

• Prevention of Unsolicited Telephonic Calls and Protection of Privacy Bill, 2009

a Bill to prohibit unsolicited telephone calls by business promoters or individuals to persons not desirous of receiving such calls and for the protection of individual privacy of citizens and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Update: Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Kolkata-based Speciality Group of Restaurants, a leading restaurant chain in the country, plans to introduce its restaurant brands like Oh! Calcutta, Sigree and Machaan in Orissa by March 2010.

The group is also exploring the possibility of opening standalone restaurants that would exclusively serve the Oriya delicacies.

Specialiy Group, which is run by more than 2,500 people, has set up the Mainland Institute of Oriental Catering in Kolkata keeping in view the group’s increasing requirement for hospitality professionals to meet its expansion plans.

The group is also keen on setting up an institute in Bhubaneswar. … China restaurant in the city is the 53 rd restaurant opened by the Speciality Group of Restaurants. It is the second restaurant of the group in the city after Haka.

Mainland China is the flagship brand of the Speciality Group with 17 standalone outlets in the country. This restaurant is present in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik and Baroda.

The other restaurant brands of the Speciality Group include Sweet Bengal, Just Biriyani and Mostly Kabab.

Haka location in Bhubaneswar is:

Haka-Bhubaneshwar
MLC-Aditya Park,
10, Bhouma Nagar,
Unit No. – 4,
Bhubaneshwar – 751 001.
Tel        :   (0674) 6943954/55

An Economic Times news report mentions that Mainland China is opening at Hotel Crown. Following are some excerpts.

Speciality Restaurants [SRPL] the country’s largest chain of fine dining eateries of reputed brands on Monday will open Mainland China – the flagship brand of the group with 23 standalone outlets in the country, at the Crown Hotel, here.

Though the Group has already got its footprints here with the opening of Haka – one of it’s ‘casual dining’ brand, the Mainland China is all set to offer exotic Chinese delicacies at an affordable price.

“Bhubaneswar is the much happening state capital in the east. The opening of Mainland China will go a long way to satisfy food connoisseurs looking for vast spread of rare delicacies from the varied regions of China. We have an ambitious plan to open at least half-a-dozen restaurants in the state capital, Puri and other small towns with an investment of about Rs 15 crore”, SRPL founder Anjan Chatterjee on Sunday told “The ET”.

It also plans to invest abut Rs 50 crore for an entertainment and food park near the Infocity here. The company has already acquired one and half acre land from the state government.

… Meanwhile, SRPL has set an ambitious target of investing around Rs 200-250 crore through both the organic and inorganic routes to become a 100-resturant company in the next one year from its present strength of 52 restaurants.

It also has firmed up plans for backward integration in the form of trained manpower and food processing. Aware of shortage of skilled and trained manpower to manage restaurants in the country, Mr Chatterjee is planning to set up a Restaurant Management School here.

“We have a Speciality Catering College at Kolkata for our in-house requirements. I am looking for vertical knowledge based schools which can run one-year course to manage restaurants. Managing hotel and managing restaurants are two different things”, he observed.

… “We will first launch select ready to cook Mainland China poly packs followed by ready to eat food. We have identified Khurda Food Processing Zone, near Bhuabneswar for packaged food items”, Mr Chatterjee reveals saying that the expansion plan will be funded througha mix of debt and equity.

Here we consolidate the announcements in the 2009 interim budget, in the July 2009 budget and in Lok sabha and Rajya Sabha during the debates after the budget announcements. (See also this news report regarding some of the trains below.)

New trains:

1. Koraput-Rourkela Express via Rayagada (daily) – announced in Interim budget as well as July budget
2. Nabadwip Dham and Puri (weekly) – announced in Parliament after the interim budget
3. Bhubaneswar – Delhi Non Stop (Weekly) – announced in July Budget
4. Kamakhya Puri Express (Weekly) – announced in July Budget
5. Puri-Mumbai LTT Expresss via Sambalpur (weekly) – announced in Parliament after July budget
6. Puri -Surat Express via Sambalpur (weekly) – announced in Parliament after July budget
7. Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Express (daily) – announced in Parliament after July budget

New trains passing through Orissa:

1. Howrah Bangalore Superfast (Weekly) – announced in July Budget
2. Kolkata-Gandhidham Superfast Express (weekly) [Will it be via Rourkela – Jharsuguda?] – announced in Interim budget and July Budget.

Extension of Trains:

1. 8425/8426 Raipur  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily)  – announced in July Budget
2. 8413/8414 Paradeep  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily) – announced in July Budget
3. 8415/8416 Puri  Kendujhargarh to Barbil (Daily) – announced in July Budget
4. 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar Dhauli Express to Puri (Daily) – announced in July Budget

Increase in frequency:

1. 2443/2444 New Delhi – Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (from 2 days to 4 days)   – announced in interim as well as July budget
2. 2887/2888 Howrah-Puri express from weekly to Bi-weekly – announced in interim budget 

Some past announcements that have not yet been implemented: 

1. 2008-2009 Budget had announced Bhubaneswar-Sambalpur-Mumbai (twice a week). This train was introduced as 2879/2880, but so far it runs weekly, instead of the announced biweekly frequency. Even the 2008-09 time table lists it as a biweekly train.
2. 2007-2008 Budget had announced a weekly Bhubaneswar-Rameshawaram Express. This train was assigned the number 8495/8496 in the subsequent time table. But it is yet to be introduced.

Note: There are often many PR related activities by Vedanta and we usually don’t cover them. But this is an exceptional act of good citizenship on the part of Vedanta when the state is going through an extremely difficult time with respect to its power situation. The excerpts below are from an article by journalist Nageswar Patnaik, who is often very critical of industrial houses. Coming from him, this reinforces the genuineness and the importance of this good action by Vedanta and thus needs to be highlighted.

This should be contrasted with the Jindal group, which was reported to have violated the agreement it signed with Orissa government, and siphoned off extra power, until it was stopped by the high court.

Vedanta Group has finally come to the rescue of Orissa which is currently facing an acute power shortage due to scanty rainfall and "almost dried-up" reservoirs and breakdown of certain thermal power units in the state.

The London-based company on Thursday announced to provide 200 MW power daily to the state grid from its own power plants with immediate effect.

Vedanta has managed to get a better price for offloading power to the grid at the rate of Rs 3.60 per unit against the current Rs 3 per unit bought by the state from the CPPs.

In fact, Vedanta had been providing 115 MW of power from its Group Company BALCO in Chattisgarh to Orissa since July 4 by depriving its own smelter.

"Looking at the continuous demand in the state, Vedanta extended its supply with effect from July 9 from Jharsuguda and has managed to provide additional 100 MW of power to the state grid. The total capacity provided by Vedanta will cover up to the tune of one third of overall power shortage in the state," a source in the company said.

This was accomplished in the face of severe challenges, including shortage of coal and non availability of railway "rack," Mr Siddiqi said, assuring, to stand solidly behind the state in all its critical times.

On an average, Orissa’s daily requirement is around 2400 MW, which goes up to 2,800 to 3,000 MW during the peak hours in the evening. The state has a combined installed capacity from hydel projects to the tune of 1,900 MW. But they are generating around 1,000 MW.

Orissa is passing through power crisis forcing the authorities to restrict load restriction on industrial users by 50% among other measures to tackle the situation.

The state is facing shortage of power by 300 MW on an average and 450 to 500 MW at peak time. The delayed monsoon made things worse while the breakdown in the coal fired power plants operating in the state added to the crisis.

The VAL has set up a Greenfield alumina refinery in Orissa’s Kalahandi district with a capacity of 1 million tons per annum. It is also setting up a 0.5 MTPA aluminum smelter, 1215 MW captive power plant at Jharsuguda.

The Group Company Sterlite Energy Limited is also setting up a 2400 MW Independent Power Plants at Jharsuguda.

The budget speech is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Speech_English_2009-10.pdf. The budget highlights is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Speech_English_2009-10_Highlight.pdf. The Pink book is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/pink_index.htm. In it the Orissa related numbers are in:

• http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Works/ECoR/ECo-Assets.pdf and
• http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Works/SE/SE-Assets.pdf.

As of now certain files are not there yet. The files that shows the profitability of various zones are the appendix files. (An example of a 2008-09 file is http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget-0809/budget-books/Works/ECOR/APPXI_0809_ECOR.pdf.) The similar files for 2009-10 are not there yet.

The Lok sabha debate pages are at http://164.100.24.209/newls/textofdebate.aspx. In there, look for 15th Lok Sabha and the debates during 2nd July 2009 to 7th August 2009.

The Rajya Sabha web page is http://rajyasabha.nic.in/.  The verbatim proceedings is available at http://164.100.47.5:8080/debatenew/show.aspx. In there, possibly in the archive, look for the 217th session.

Update 2:In the Lok Sabha the Rail Minister Mamta Banerjee made some statements regarding Orissa. They are:

• Page 68: Added Dhenkanal to the list of Adarsh stations
• Page 68: Granted a multi-functional complex to Talcher
• Page 66: Mentioned that Orissa will have 7 new trains, 4 extensions and 2 increases in frequency. (It is not clear what is the second increase in frequency other than the Rajdhani.)

Update: Some of the news reports (Breaking newsonline, Dharitri) mention three other new trains for Orissa. They say that the Rail minister mentioned them in Lok Sabha although they are not part of the budget speech. Those trains are:

• Puri-Mumbai LTT Expresss via Sambalpur
• Puri -Surat Express via Sambalpur
• Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Express (daily)

It seems Mamtadi is fond of Puri.

• Among the 50 stations that are to be developed as world class stations there are two stations in Orissa:
  • Bhubaneswar
  • Puri
• Among the 375 stations for inclusion as Adarsh stations (with basic facilities such as drinking water, adequate toilets, catering services, waiting rooms and dormitories especially for lady passengers, better signage and other basicfacilities are universally available) there are the following stations in Orissa:
  • Bolangir,
  • Jajpur Keonjhar Road,
  • Khurda Road,
  • Koraput Jn,
  • Rayagada,
  • Titlagarh Jn
• Multi-functional Complexes in station premises for providing rail users facilities  like shopping, food stalls and restaurants, book stalls, PCO/STD/ISD/Fax booths, medicine & variety stores, budget hotels, underground parking etc. It is proposed to take up development of these Multi-functional Complexes in different parts of the country at 50 railway stations serving places of pilgrimage, industry and tourist interest in this year. Responsibility for development of these facilities will be entrusted to IRCON and Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA). These will be in two stations in Orissa.
  • Bansapani,
  • Cuttack
• Ambulance services for passengers at 7 seven cities including in
  • Bhubaneswar
• Medical colleges are planned to be established attached to existing railway hospitals through PPP, to give higher education facilities to new generation of railway children. The locations include:
  • Bhubaneswar
• A new train service by the name Duronto with AC and non-AC sleeper will be introduced for non-stop point to point services between select cities throughout the country. This includes:
  • Bhubaneswar – Delhi Non Stop (Weekly)
• New Trains:
  • Howrah Bangalore Superfast (Weekly)
  • Kamakhya Puri Express (Weekly)
  • Koraput Rourkela Express (Daily) via Rayagada
• Extension of Trains
  • 8425/8426 Raipur  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily)
  • 8413/8414 Paradeep  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily)
  • 8415/8416 Puri  Kendujhargarh to Barbil (Daily)
  • 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar Dhauli Express to Puri (Daily)
• Increase in Frequency
  • 2443/2444 New Delhi- Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express from 2 days to 4 days
• 250 km has been fixed for construction of new lines in 2009-2010
  • Lanjigarh-Bhawanipatna of Lanjigarh-Junagarh
• During 2009-2010, a target of completion of gauge conversion of about 1300 km has been fixed. This includes
  • Parlakimidi-Gunupur of Naupada-Gunupur
  • Baripada-Bangriposi of Rupsa-Bangriposi
• Propose to process the following rail connectivity proposals
  • Banspani-Bimalgarh-Barsuan
  • Bolangir-Nawapara Road
  • Digha-Jaleswar-Puri
  • Dantewara-Malkangiri
  • Sambalpur-Behrampur

Following is an excerpt from a report in Indopia.

  … "The first phase with 0.8 Mtpa capacity is expected to be commissioned by June-July, 2010. Work for the stainless steel plant is going on in full swing,"JSL Vice President and Managing Director Ratan Jindal told reporters after meeting Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Though there has been some delay in the Rs 6,500 crore project …

Once the first phase is commissioned, work for the next phase would be expedited to achieve the 1.6 Mtpa capacity at the earliest.

… He said 50 per cent of the electricity generated from the captive power plant (cpp) of the company is being provided to the state government.

On the proposed 1,000 mw thermal plant to be set up in Dhenkanal, Jindal said details were being worked out for the project.

Tathya.in has a few statements on the simple style of Billionaire owner Ratan Jindal.

Ratan, in fact, known for his down to earth approach and simple life style.

He like others never moves in his personal jet and does not shows off his wealth, said an industry watcher.

He simply moves in Jetlite or Indigo with a few of his officers.

Ratan Jindal is the one of 4 sons of late O. P. Jindal. His mother is a minister in the Harayana state government and one of the brother Naveen Jindal is an MP. There are many colleges and a university with O. P. Jindal’s name. This includes the:

• O. P. Jindal Global University in Harayana with Jindal Global Law School as its first school
• O. P. Jindal Institute of Technology in Chhatisgarh under the aegis of Jindal Education and Welfare Society

The Orissa government should push Mr. Ratan Jindal for an engineering college and a medical college in Orissa.

Following is from a web site of world bank about doing business in various cities of India. This site has the main findings. The full report is at http://www.doingbusiness.org/Documents/Subnational/DB09_Subnational_Report_India.pdf.

The overall ranking of the 17 cities are:

1. Ludhiana
2. Hyderabad
3. Bhubaneswar
4. Gurgaon
5. Ahmedabad
6. New Delhi
7. Jaipur
8. Guwahati
9. Ranchi
10. Mumbai
11. Indore
12. Noida
13. Bangalore
14. Patna
15. Chennai
16. Kochi
17. Kolkata

Why is Pune not in the list?

Following is an excerpt from a report in Steelguru.

… Orissa Government, in its bid to encourage power generation from waste has given its accord to 8 bio mass based power projects with a combined generation capacity of 90 MW by private developers.

The proposed projects are likely to be set up in Raygada, Nawarangpur, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Khurda, Dhenkanal and Puri districts. The cost per MW of power is expected to be between INR 4.5 crore to INR 5 crore depending on the location and evacuation facilities.

Moreover, the Sali Vahana Green Energy is planning to set up a 20 MW bio mass based power plant in Dhenkanal and Satya bio power Industry, a 10 MW plant in Ganjam. Prasad bio energy plans to set up a 10 MW unit in Raygada. While Jaylaxmi bio energy Limited to set up a 10 MW unit in Nayagarh another plant of similar capacity by Andhavarapu bio energy is likely to come up in Nawarangpur. Sampath Power Projects and Falcon Green Energy propose 10 MW capacity units each in Khurda and Puri respectively.

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

Land has been identified near Amarda in Mayurbhanj district for establishment of the Army base in the State.

General-officer-commanding (GOC), central command, J.K. Mohanty met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here at the Secretariat today to discuss the issue.

Mohanty told mediapersons that it is now for the State Government to acquire the land and hand it over for establishment of the base.

The Centre recently informed the State Government that it had decided in principle to establish an Army base in the State and requested it to provide the required land. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had assured the Centre that it will extend all cooperation including provision of land for this purpose.

Amarda is close  to NH 60 on State highway 61. Its about 15 kms west of from Jaleswar. It is 10 km from Rasgobindpur airport and is about 50 kms from Baripada. There is an Amarda Road station between Basta and Rajghat stations.

The sequence of Railways stations around Amarda Rd are: Balasore, Rupsa Jn (18), Basta (28), Amarda Rd (34), Jaleswar (48).

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Gurgaon-based real estate firm Vipul Limited, one of the leading real estate developers in the country, plans to invest Rs 80-100 crore in setting up a four-star business hotel in Bhubaneswar .

Vipul Limited had identified Bhubaneswar as one of the 5-6 strategic locations in the country where it intends to set up three-star and four-star business hotels.

Apart from Bhubaneswar, these business hotels are set to come up in the states of Punjab, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Each of these business hotels would cost Rs 80-100 crore.

“We have identified two to three plots of land in Bhubaneswar, including one close to the airport for setting up a four-star business hotel. "

The proposed hotel would come up on an area of 2-3 acres”, Punit Beriwala, managing director, Vipul Limited told Business Standard.

He declined to comment on the time-frame of setting up of the business hotel as the details were yet to be worked out.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

… The new structure will result in a 10% royalty payout on iron ore of all grades instead of the Rs 13-27 per tonne that states have been getting, depending on the quality of the ore. Revenue for states from the vital input for steel is likely to increase from Rs 250 crore to over Rs 1,500 crore per year.

“Higher royalty payments will certainly impact our expansion projects as lower realisations and even lower margins now leave little with the companies,” said an official of a leading private sector steel company.

The mines ministry estimated the total value of mineral production during 2008-09 at Rs 1.14 lakh crore. Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh are India’s top mineral producing states and they have been pressing the Union government for about two years now to revise the royalty rates.

…Along with iron ore, the new system will lead to changed royalty rates for limestone, zinc, bauxite, manganese, diamond and uranium.

States’ royalty earnings on non-coal minerals are expected to double from level Rs 2,014 crore (at 2006-07 production levels) because of the new structure.

Royalty rates were last modified nearly five years ago and a change has been due since 2007.

Following is an excerpt from a report in http://www.mydigitalfc.com/companies/tatas-hire-singapore-firm-sez-273.

Tata Realty & Infrastr-ucture (TRIL), Tata Group’s real estate and infrastructure development arm, has hired Singapore-based Jurong International as the master planner for its special economic zone (SEZ) project in Gopalpur (Orissa).

“We have shortlisted Jurong for this important project,” said a Tata group official. Jurong offers design and build, consultancy, construction, and facilities management services and its India office is located in Hyderabad.
The multi-product SEZ, with all infrastructure facilities and required amenities, will cost the group nearly $ 1billion.
So far, Jurong has done master plans for 380,000 hectares, 10 million square meters of industrial land and 5.8 million square meters of residential space.

The SEZ in Gopalpur will focus on minerals, mining and associated industries. At present, Tata Steel possesses the land slotted for SEZ. In 1995, Tata Steel acquired the land for Rs 150 crore to set up a 2.5 million tonne per annum port-based steel plant in Orissa and spent. This plan had to be abandoned due to lack of amenities such as adequate water and iron ore linkages at the site. Now, Tata Steel is putting up a multi-million tonnes per annum steel plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa.

We plan to focus on industries that are downstream value-added in the metals and minerals space and allied industries such as gem and jewellery for the SEZ, which is planned to come up in 2,900 acres. The land is already in our possession and the necessary approvals are in place. So we expect that this development will not face any land acquisition related problems,” a TRIL official told Financial Chro-nicle.
“The positioning of the SEZ has been made keeping in mind the advantages of the local area and infrastructure such as a functioning port that’s capable of deep draught, an air strip and railway slidings that could be utilised by the industrial units in the zone,” added the official.

I hope this is for real and not because TATAs are due for some mining lease renewal. They have been accused of using such strategy with Orissa during mining lease renewal times.

Following is excerpted from a report in Business Standard.

Though Orissa has 183 million tonnes of chrome ore, constituting 98 per cent of the total chrome deposits in the country, only 3.27 per cent of this, which comes to about 6 million tonne, has been fully explored till date.

To expedite the exploration and exploitation of chrome reserves in the state, the government has granted mining leases to 15 companies including Ferro Alloys Corporation (Facor) and Balasore Alloys.

Of the total chrome reserves in Orissa, Sukinda area in Jajpur district has the lion’s share of 173 million tonne (mt). This includes low grade chrome.

The places in Sukinda where the chrome deposits are found are Kamarda (2 mt), Saruabili (9 mt), Sukrangi (7.5 mt), Kaliapani (25 mt), Bhimatanger (98 mt), Kalarangi (0.5 mt) and Chingudipal and Tailangi (13 mt).

Out of the total deposits found in Sukinda area, 18 million tonne are of inferior quality, says the state steel and mines minister, Raghunath Mohanty said.

The Kamakshyanagar in Dhenkanal district, which adjoins Sukinda valley, has about 4.42 million tonne reserve of chromite in locations like Sandhasar, Tulasiposhi, Haladigunda and Kathapal. The estimated reserves at Kathapal are 2 million tonne.

Mohanty said, the total chromite reserve of the state is estimated at 183 million tonne, out of which 177.42 million tonne occur in Sukinda and Kamakshyanagar area.