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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.

Bishnu Das’s article in Business Standard lists many of the solar and biomass power unit projects that are in the pipeline in Odisha. Following are some excerpts.

Solar power units:

• 5 Mw power plant of RSB Energy Pvt Ltd in Sundergarh district
• Enzen Global Solutions’s 5 Mw solar power plant in Khurda district
• Lanco Solar’s 5 Mw solar plant in Cuttack district
• Sunark Solar’s 5 Mw power plant in Puri district
• Kolkata based SREI Infrastructure’s 5 Mw solar power plant in Bolangir district
• Moserbaer Pvt Ltd’s 5 Mw grid interactive solar photo voltaic project
• Sahara India’s 5 Mw solar power plant

Biomass power units:

• Rice husk based power plant being set up by Shali Vahana Green Energy Ltd at Nimidha village in Dhenkanal district
• Satya Bio-Power Industry Ltd planning to set up a 10 Mw plant in Ganjam
• A V N Power Projects setting up a 10 Mw power plant in Kalahandi district
• Prasad Bio-Energy planning a 10 Mw unit in Raygada
• Jay Laxmi Bio-Energy Ltd intends to set up a 10 Mw unit in Nayagarh
• Another plant of similar capacity is proposed by Andhavarapu Bio-Energy in Nawarangpur

Following is from Samaja.

Following ad is from Orissa Business Blog.

Update: Following are some additional details from a report in Pioneer.

• Amtech Auto Engineering would set up the complex at an investment of Rs 15,820 crore near Tangi- Choudwar. It would set up a two million tonne steel plant and 500 MW captive power plant in the complex. With this about 33,000 people will get both direct and indirect employment.

  It may be mentioned here that Jamsedpur-based RSB Trasmissions (I) Ltd, one of India’s leading auto components manufacturers, is coming up with an auto complex at Mania in Cuttack. RSB Transmission will invest Rs 430 crore in the project.

• The committee also approved JK Cement‘s one million tonne capacity plant on the road between Athagrah and Choudwar.
• BOC would set up an air separation plant at an investment of Rs 434 crore in Rourkela. It would produce oxygen, nitrogen and argons.
• Bijaya Ferro Power Private Limited would set up a power plant at Keshinga in Kalahandi with an investment of Rs 550 crore. It would take water from Tel river to produce 120 MW power.
• Ind-Bharat’s proposal to enhance its power production capacity has also got the nod of the committee. It would set up its plant at Jharsuguda with an investment of Rs 3,300 crore.
• Facor would set up its captive power plant at Rahandia near Bhadrak.
• Due to shortage of water, few plants have also changed their sites. Odisha Cement Power Plant (OCL) has shifted its plant site from Mania to Rajgangpur.
• Jinadal Stainless Steel would set up its plant in Luni instead of Gajatara in Dhenkanal.
• Kalinga Energy Power Limited would set up its plant at Jharsuguda instead of Sambalpur.
• Scwal Brewage would set up its plant at Baranga instead of Choudwar at a cost of Rs 193 crore.
• The Rs 1,320 crore Sahara Power project has shifted its plant to Ghantabahal from Turul.
• German-based Gaunteman Pipery would set up its plant beneficiation plant and pelatisation plant. The beneficiation plant would come up at Barbil and the pelatisation plant at Dhamra. Around 1,605 crore would be invested in the project.
• Aditya Alumina’s proposal to enhance its production from one million tonne to 1.5 million tonne. It would also enhance its power plant from 650 MW to 900 MW.

Following is an excerpt from Orissadiary.

The projects of Adhunic Metalics and Jindal Stainless Steel at Sundargarh and Kalinganagar, respectively have been approved. The SWCLC has also given its green signal for an air-separation plant. Projects, involving Vijay Ferrochorme and Power Pvt Ltd and Adhunic Power plant have been cleared.

Amtech Metals would establish the integrated auto-complex, first of its kind in the state. Moreover, an auto-park, steel and power plant would also be established in the complex. The cost of the entire project has been pegged at Rs 15,820 crore. All the projects are expected to provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to nearly 47,000 and 1.5 lakh people, respectively apart from bolstering the socio-economic conditions in those regions where the proposed projects would come up, state Industries Secretary, Sourabh Garg said.

Tathya has some details on the Adhunik group’s project. Following are some excerpts:

Adhunik Power & Natural Resources Limited (APNRL) has proposed to invest Rs.3883.40 crore for the 4×250 MW power plant in Birmaharajpur in Sonepur district.

… Adhunik Metaliks Limited (AML), another member of the Group has proposed to set up Down Stream Park for stainless and special products with an investment of Rs.286 crore.  … downstream industries in hot-rolling, cold-rolling utensils, kitchen and hardware.  AML has also proposed for stainless steel pipes and alloys, which received the nod.
The park will be set up at Kumarmunda in a 300 acre area in Sundargarh district.

AML is setting up steel plant at Kumarmunda with a capacity of 0.41 million ton per annum (MTPA).

Tathya has also some details on the JSL project. Following are some excerpts.

JSL Limited posed a proposal to set up a Super Critical Thermal Power Station of 1320 (660X2) megawatt capacity, which has been cleared in the meeting. The Rs.4090 crore Greenfield project will be set up at Luni in Dhenkanal district.

Most importantly JSL, which is setting up a 3.20 million ton per annum (MTPA) capacity stainless steel plant at Kalinga Nagar has proposed to set up Stainless Steel Park (SEZ) with an investment of Rs.740 crore.  … The park will promote auto components, kitchen & life style, light engineering, white goods, cold rolling, pipes and tubes, and service centre. 300 acres of land for the park is needed for the park, which will have man power requirement of more than 2000, said sources. JSL plant is likely to produce stainless steel by end of 2010 and the park is also to be completed by the same time reveal the SLSWCA Report.

The above two downstream park proposals are most likely due to the recent government focus on those aspects, before giving mining leases. The govt. needs to make sure that the down stream parks indeed materialize as proposed.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

… the Orissa government has approved two more bio-mass based power projects with a combined generating capacity of 39 Mw of power.

With this the total envisaged generating capacity in the bio-mass sector will increase to 129 Mw. Earlier, the government had approved 8 bio-mass based power projects with a combined generation capacity of 90 Mw.

… to promote bio-mass based power plants through the use of the wastes like rice husk, groundnut cover, coconut cover and other agricultural waste, the state government has started some initiative and approved the setting up of ten bio-mass based projects so far.

The State Level Technical Committee (STC) chaired by the secretary, science and technology, in its meeting held recently cleared two proposals- one by Starlight Energy’s proposal to set up a 15 Mw bio-mass power plant at Nuapada and the other by Mahavir Hitech Chemicals (P) Ltd to set up a 5 Mw power plant in Ratanpur village of Sundargarh district.

STC has also approved setting up of five more solar power projects aggregating 25 Mw in the state. The proposals include 5 Mw power plant proposed by RSB Energy Pvt. Ltd in Sundergarh dicstrict and Enzen Global Solutions’s plan to set up a 5 Mw solar power plant in Khurda district.

Similarly, Lanco Solar’s 5 Mw solar plant to be set up in Cuttack district, Sunark Solar’s 5 Mw power plant in Puri district and Kolkata based SREI Infrastructure’s proposal to set up a 5 Mw solar power plant in Bolangir district have been given the green signal.

Earlier the state government had approved Moserbaer Pvt Ltd’s 5 Mw grid interactive solar photo voltaic project and Sahara India’s proposal to set up a 5 Mw solar power plant in the state.

Update: Biswarup Basu in an IRFCA posting pointed out that based on the current schedule this train is  competitive with the 8005/06 Koraput-Howrah Express; 1 hr 5 minutes faster towards Howrah and 15 minutes slower in the other direction.  So many may not mind traveling end-to-end on this train. He thinks there is enough traffic to introduce a daily train in this route.

East Coast Railway is running eight pairs of a special train between Sambalpur and Howrah via Angul. Following is its schedule.

From end-to-end connectivity point of view the path taken by this train is longer than the regular Sambalpur-Rourkela-HWH path.

• SBP – Howrah : 563 kms
• SBP – Kapilas Rd (273-15 = 258) + Kapilas Rd – HWH 396  = 654 kms

However, this train would give a direct connection between Howrah and places like Angul, Talcher and Dhenkanal. A train in this route with different times and more stops could also provide direct and useful connection between Sambalpur/Redhakhol/Angul/Talcher/Dhenkanal and Jajpur Rd/Bhadrakh/Balasore.  Perhaps ECOR is exploring a regular train in this route. 

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The state-level single-window clearance committee, headed by the chief secretary, today cleared proposals to set up industrial projects drawing a total investment of Rs 2,037 crore.

With the decision, decks have been cleared for signing MoUs by promoters concerned with the state government, sources said.

The committee also forwarded two more proposals for setting up of two thermal power plants to generate 3,300MW with a total investment of Rs 14,275 crore to the high-level clearance authority, headed by the chief minister.

…  While JR Power Gen has proposed to set up a 1,980MW thermal power plant at an estimated cost of Rs 7,988 crore at Kishore Nagar near Angul, BGR Energy has submitted proposals for establishment of a 1,320MW power plant with an investment of Rs 6,287 crore in Nayagarh district.

… the committee gave its final nod to Hindalco’s proposal for setting up an aluminium re-rolling plant with a capacity of 2.85 lakh tonnes at Hirakud in Sambalpur district with an investment of Rs 850 crore.

The proposal of Rashmi Cement Limited to establish a 2 lakh tonnes ferro manganese plant at Haridaspur in Jajpur district with an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore and Dhananjay Industries’s 40,000-tonnes ferro alloy plant at Choudwar near Cuttack with an investment of Rs 180 crore were also cleared.

The committee also cleared the proposal of Kaushal Ferro Manganese for establishment of a re-rolling mill with a production capacity of 2 lakh tonnes at Padiabahal in Sundergarh district with an investment of Rs 82 crore.

The last proposal, which got the nod, was submitted by Bhubaneswar Power Limited to set up a 135MW power plant at Anantpur near Athgarh in Cuttack district on joint venture with Tata Steel and Jasper at an estimated cost of Rs 625 crore.

Update: Aug 18, 2009 – As Dilip comments below the train should start its maiden run any day now.

Dilip Mohanty writes the following in an IRFCA posting:

The much awaited Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Express (declared in the current budget in an addition to the 57 new trains) remains a mystery. A leading local daily named "SAMBAD" has reoprted that the train will start within a few weeks and the Railways Authorities at Rourkela have already received an additional time table for this train. It reports that the train will depart Rourkela at morning 05:15 hours and reach Bhubaneswar at 13:15 hours in the afternoon. After a stay of about 30 minutes at Bhubaneswar, it will depart at 13:45 hours and reach Rourkela at 21:45 hours(an expected Superfast). This train is supposed to be operated by South Eastern Railway.

This train will bring up some new convenient 1-change connections.

• From Bhubaneswar (BBS) to Mumbai: Using this train one can go to Jharsuguda (JSG) and then take Gitanjali that leaves JSG at 21:43. 2860 Gitanjali Express reaches Mumbai CSTM at 21:30 the next day. The total time from BBS to CSTM would be 31 hrs 45 minutes, much less than 1020 Konark which takes 36 hrs 40 mins. The weeklies 2146 and 2880 take 32hrs 15mins and 30hrs 15mins respectively.
• From Mumbai to Bhubaneswar: 2859 Gitanjali leaves CSTM at 6:00 and reaches JSG the next day at 04:25. One can then take the above Rourkela – Bhubaneswar Express to reach Bhubaneswar at 13:15. The total time from CSTM to BBS would be 31hrs and 15 mins.
• From Rourkela to Secunderabad: Using this train one can go from Rourkela to Bhubaneswar and then take Konark to go to Secunderabad. Konark leaves Bhubaneswar at 15:15 and reaches Secunderabad the next day at 11:35. The total time from Rourkela to Secunderabad would be 30hrs 20 mins. (One can take Falaknuma that leaves BBSR at 14:05 instead of Konark; but the connection time would be much less making it risky.)
• From Secunderabad to Rourkela: 2704 Falaknuma leaves Secunderabad at 16:00 and reaches BBS the next day at 10:40. One can then take the BBS-ROU Express to Rourkela to reach ROU at 21:45. The total duartion will be 29 hrs and 45 mins.

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.

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) headed by the chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy today cleared five projects worth Rs 2807.7 crore.

…out of the 12 proposals considered by SLSWCA, the proposal of Bhubneswar Power Private Ltd for setting up of a 2X67.5 Mw CPP was deferred. The energy department has been asked to consider the proposal from the policy point of view.

Two major investment proposals by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) and Hindalco Industries were partially approved in today’s meeting due to non-availability of bauxite and pending the environmental carrying capacity study by the Orissa State Pollution Control Board.

VAL had proposed to expand the capacity of its refinery at Lanjigarh from one million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 6 MTPA and the smelter plant capacity from 0.25 MTPA to 1.6 MTPA. Besides, the capacity of the CPP was proposed to be raised from 674 Mw to 1350 Mw with a combined investment of Rs 37,440 crore.

The company had signed MoU with the Orissa government for the present capacity at an investment of Rs 12,400 crore. However, SLSWCA only recommended for a smelter capacity of 0.5 MTPA as the company had already achieved this level. It also approved the capacity expansion of the CPP to 1350 Mw as sought by the company. The additional smelting capacity will be considered only after ascertaining the availability of bauxite and receipt of the OSPCB study on environment. Similarly, Hindalco Industries Ltd (Aditya Aluminium) had proposed to expand its alumina refinery capacity to 1.5 MTPA from 1 MTPA at present.

Along with this, the company also sought expansion of its smelting capacity to 0.72 MTPA from 0.26 MTPA and increase in the CPP capacity to 1650Mw from 650 Mw.

SLSWCA has decided to recommend a marginal increase in the smelting capacity from 0.26 MTPA to 0.36 MTPA and CPP capacity from 650 Mw to 950 Mw to the HLCA.

It also put conditional approval to the proposal of the Tata Sponge Iron Ltd. to set up a 1.5 MTPA steel making capacity along with a 52 Mw CPP at an investment of Rs 3101 crore. While the existing sponge capacity of the company is 0.39 MTPA, it had sought to expand its capacity by 0.45 MTPA to 0.84 MTPA.

Similarly, the company proposed to set up one MTPA blast furnace and 1.6 MTPA pellet plant in a separate location in Keonjhar district. It will have to increase the steel making capacity first and after that the increase in the sponge making capacity will be allowed.

The other projects which were approved include 4 MTPA iron ore beneficiation plant at an investment of Rs 360.85 crore to be set up by Kolkata based Rashmi Metaliks at Nayagarh in Keonjhar district.

Similarly, the Rs 624.7 crore investment proposal of Rungta mines, Shyam Steel Industries proposal for setting up 2 MTPA iron ore pelletisation plant were cleared by the SLSWCA. Besides, the Toshali Cement’s proposal to expand its capacity to 2100 tonne per day from 600 tonne per day along with 3.96 lakh tonne per annum grinding unit at Choudwar was also approved.

The proposal of Orissa Thermal Power Corporation, a joint venture between Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) and Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to set up 2000 MW power plant at Rengali at an investment of Rs 8250 crore also received the nod of the committee.

Jindal India Thermal Power’s proposal to increase the capacity from 1200 Mw to 1800 mw and Lanco Bhawan Power’s proposal to increase its capacity to 2640 Mw from 1230 Mw were approved for recommendation to the HLCA on the basis of strong recommendation of the energy department.

In another significant decision, SLSWCA decided not to allow any more cement plant in the state except Malkangiri district as the state does not have sufficient amount of limestone.

Following is from a report in Hospitality Biz India.

The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (IED) is likely to set up three food processing centres (FPCs) in Orissa to provide infrastructural facilities for farmers to directly process their products. These FPCs are expected to be developed in PPP mode.

While, the required infrastructure will be created by the Orissa government, the day to day operations, including the centres’ maintenance will be managed by a private agency. Currently, the details of the FPCs are being worked out by the IED and the proposal will be sent to the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries for assistance after the plan is finalised.

The state government has identified three locations, namely Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Phulbani, for setting up of these Centres. However, a final decision regarding the locations for these FPCs is yet to be taken.

Following are excerpts from her article in DNA.

… Years later reading Suketu Mehta’s paean to Bombay, I was drawn back to the moment, for Cuttack is a 1000 years old, truly a millennium city.

The great Barbati fort whose ancient stone ramparts encircle the city in a broken embrace was built around 989 AD by the Keshari dynasty. …

Squeezed on a tongue of land between the two great rivers, Mahanadi and Kathjodi, like any city worth its salt Cuttack soon outgrew its location and acquired a unique ethos.

… Cuttack is its Sahis and Gallis, its babulok and its rickshaws, its lingo with the tangy undercurrent of irony, its Durga Puja and Bali Jatra, kite flying on the sands of Kathjodi, and mouthwatering Dahi Vada Alu Dum. Cuttack is where Subhash Bose was born, where Hari Prasad tuned his flute and Mayadhar Mansingh found his romantic muse. Its moonlight on the Mahanadi, packed houses to Annapurna theatre and 20-20 at Barbati stadium.

… A Mumbai chawl might be an equivalent of the Kataki Sahi but unlike its mammoth big sister, Cuttack knows no riots. Cuttack Chandi, the city’s patron goddess coexists with Qadam-e-Rasool, the seat of political authority of the Moslems of Orissa in centuries of harmony.

… They say that whoever has not gorged on Raghu’s Dahi Vada Aloo Dum has not yet sampled Cuttack . For these urad dal fritters in yogurt sauce with spicy gravy potatoes can tempt the taste buds to distraction. Come evening cars from around a fifty kilometer radius line up for his fare. Raghu is now the stuff of business school curricula like Mumbai’s dabbawallahs! …

Naraj Station lies across Kathjodi river about 1 km away from the bridge. It is about 2 kms from the proposed 2nd campus of Ravenshaw university, 3-4 km from Bidanasi-CDA and within 1 km from the proposed Sri Sri University. 

Several trains in the BBS (Bhubaneswar)-SBP (Sambalpur) line such as 2893 (BBS-BLGR superfast), 8304 (Puri-SBP Intercity), 8405 (Puri-ADI), 8507 (VSK-ASR) skip Cuttack and go via Naraj without stopping there. By developing the Naraj station a bit more, developing the road between the station and the bridge, and introducing stops at Naraj station people in Cuttack will be able to easily access these trains.

Many trains between Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur do go via Cuttack.

However, the reason some trains (especially intercity trains) from Bhubaneswar towards Sambalpur skip Cuttack and go via Naraj is that they save 24 kms if they go via Naraj.

This saving will be very important if an intercity between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela is to be introduced. Currently the fastest connection between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela is 2832/33 HTE Garib Rath. It covers 443 kms and takes 7 hr 50 minutes. By skipping Cuttack and using Naraj as an access point to Cuttack the distance will reduce to 419 kms (See 2893 and 2832 distance between Bhubaneswar and Dhenkanal for the difference), which is more comfortable for an intercity train.

Naraj is really very close to Cuttack; much close to Cuttack than Barang or the proposed station between Barang and Patia. Also, Naraj station is much closer to the newer parts of Cuttack (such as CDA and Bidanasi) than the Cuttack station. Also, a lot of development is planned near Naraj that includes the Sri Sri University, National Law University and 2nd campus of Ravenshaw University. The following map from wikimapia shows where Naraj station lies vis-a-vis Cuttack. In the map below Naraj station is in the left bottom corner.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

… Aimed at coaching and training boys from 11 to 19 years, the Orissa Cricket Academy envisions acting as “an educational institution and a nursery” to “effectively tap and groom young talent for the future”.

It has already enrolled the first batch of 40 trainees selected on the basis of performance and record during the under-15, under-17 and under-19 inter-district matches. They are being provided free accommodation and food within the Barabati Stadium complex. …

The youngsters would be imparted training and coaching on modern techniques and physical fitness by qualified and experienced coach, physio trainer and video analyst. …

As part of a major infrastructure development project underway at the stadium, OCA has set up the academy at a cost of Rs 6 crore, 50 per cent of which was provided by the BCCI. National Cricket Academy director Dav Whatmore, … said: “It will act as a state-of-the-art workshop and nursery to enhance performance levels by producing well-talented cricketers with well-rounded personalities to meet the current challenges of international cricket.”

Sprawling over a 2-acre area on the southwest corner of the stadium complex the academy has 10 pitches — six natural turfs, two synthetic (one designed to help pacers and other for spinners) and two concrete. The academy, supported with hi-tech multi-gym facility. R. Srikant has been appointed chief coach with Sourajit Mohapatra, Manas Ray and Daniel Rout to assist him in bowling, batting and fielding, respectively.

The state cricket association had undertaken a major infrastructure development work is in progress at the stadium.

The Rs 56-crore project with 50 per cent funding from BCCI envisaged extension of pavilion, galleries, an indoor hall for practice sessions during inclement weather, swimming pools for players, a permanent academy and hi-tech dressing room of international standard.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

Eight power companies today promised to invest Rs 42,000 crore in the state to build plants that will generate over 4,780MW.

…Naveen added that his government’s initiatives during the past four years in encouraging value-added steel, aluminium and cement projects had led to promised investment of around Rs 6 lakh crore out of which Rs 50,848 crore had already been realised.

The companies, which signed MoUs today, were Astaranga Power Company Ltd (2,640MW), Sahara India Power Corporation (1,320MW), Ind-Barat Energy Utkal Limited (700MW), Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (1,320MW), Visaka Thermal Power Pvt Ltd (1,100MW), Kalinga Energy & Power Limited (1,000MW), Arati Steel (500MW) and Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Ltd (1,200MW).

While Astaranga Power Company intended to establish 2,640MW thermal power plants in two phases at Astaranga in Puri district with an investment of Rs 11,200 crore, Sahara India Power Corporation proposed to set up 1,320MW thermal power plant at Turla village in Bolangir district at an estimated cost of Rs 5,604 crore.

Similarly, Ind-Barat Energy Utkal planned to set up 700MW thermal power plant at Sahajbahal near Banharpali in Jharsuguda district with an investment of Rs 3,150 crore. Visaka Thermal Power will set up a 1,100MW coal-based power plant at Bhandaripokhari or Banto block in Bhadrak district at an investment of Rs 4,800 crore. Jindal Steel and Power proposes to set up a 1,320MW thermal power plant at Athamallik tehsil in Angul district with an investment of Rs 5,940 crore.

Besides, the Kalinga Energy plans to set up a 1,000MW thermal power project at an investment of Rs 4,261 crore at Babuchakuli.

While Arati Steel proposes to set up a 500MW thermal power plant at Ghantikhal in Cuttack district, Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Ltd plans to set up 1,200MW power plant at Siaria in Dhenkanal district.

According to the MoUs, the state would get the benefits in shape of contribution to the environment management fund, value-added tax, coal royalty and water cess.

Around 1,174 to 1,370MW of power would be available to Orissa at variable cost (less than Rs 1.50 per unit), depending on the coal block availability.

This benefit would be extended to the consumers so that got power at cheaper rate, said energy secretary P.K. Jena, who signed the MoUs on behalf of the government.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47065.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved for the six laning of following nine stretches for a total length 1409.93 km costing Rs.18238.05 crore under NHDP Phase V on DBFOT basis:

No.	Section	State	NH No.	Length	Total Project Cost including cost of LA, R&R, pre- constr. (Rs. crore)	Concession Period in-cluding construction period of 30 months
1	Delhi-Agra	UP/Haryana	2	179.10	2494.00	26 years
2	Kishangarh-Udaipur	Rajasthan	79A, 79 & 76	315	3597.47	29 years
3	Chandikhol-Jagatpur-Bhubaneshwar	Orissa	5	67.00	1104.00	27 years
4	Vijayawada-Elluru-Rajamundri	Andhra Pradesh	5	198.20	2751.15	30 years
5	Varanasi-Aurangabad	UP	2	192.40	2974.75	30 years
6	Nellore-Chilkaluripet	Andhra Pradesh	5	183.7	2433.90	30 years
7	Krishnagiri-Walahjpet	Tamil Nadu	46	148.30	1673.17	30 years
8	Belgaum-Dharwad	Karnataka	4	80.18	707.61	30 years
9	Indore-Dewas	MP	3	45.05	502.00	30 years

            The project will be developed by the NHAI through the PPP and the Concessionaire will be selected by NHAI following two stage bidding process.  The first stage of the bidding process i.e., pre-qualification of the bidders has already been completed by NHAI.  The second stage of bidding is in process.

As per this page in the document prepared by IIT Kharagpur the population of the above complex in 2008 is 1.9 million.