Business Standard in a report mentions the following numbers in regards to IOC’s plan in Paradip.
IOC is also planning around Rs 6,000 crore petrochemical complex at its upcoming 15 mtpa refinery in Paradip, Orissa.
Deepika Global reports on Paradeep Phosphates’ record production this year. Following are some excerpts.
The Paradeep Phosphate Limited (PPL) has registered a record of 13.18 lakh tonnes production in last fiscal and earned a net profit of Rs 109 crores while raising its income to Rs 2067.2 crore. … of the total production the DAP alone accounted for 8.2 lakh tonnes.
Among the intermediary products, Phosphoric Acid, he said was 2,80,300 tonnes, registering an increase of 8.6 per cent over the previous year.
Similarly, Sulphuric Acid registered an increase of 3.4 per cent in comparison to last year with 7,60,610 tonnes.
He said in addition to 13.10 lakh tonnes production, the PPL also sold 1,42,152 tonnes of imported Mauriate of Potash (MOP), 3,13,470 tonne of Gypsum and exported 31,000 tonne of fertiliser to Nepal.
Mr Nandrudikar claimed that the Navaratna Krushi Vikas Yojana implemented in Orissa and Chhatishgarh had been very successful in increasing the yield with the use of improve techniques of agriculture.
Besides improving the agricultural productivity, the PPL had also undertaken mushroom cultivation and tissue culture of bananas in four districts, two each in Orissa and Chhatisgarh, he added. …
He said the company had already invested Rs 140 crores in first year and another Rs 142 crores last year further adding that it had decided to invest another Rs 140 crore during the current fiscal.
Following is Samaja’s article on this.
The coastal highway is proposed to run along the coast from Gopalpur to Digha. Tathya.in reports on attempts to revive the proposal.
Kalingatimes reports that Posco is definitely interested in the Orissa project.
Excerpts of the Article below
… The latest statement from the authorities of POSCO-India makes it clear that they were here to stay – to pursue their 12 million tonne per annum capacity steel mill project in Jagatsinghpur district.
…, the company has said in a statement that it was `confident, determined and committed’ to make its Orissa steel project happen. …
But the company has said that as per its human resource plan, overseas staff deployment in POSCO-India project was purely need based.
“Staff deployment is in relation to specific assignments and the employee moves with the changes in assignment. Accordingly, when the construction phase begins, there would be reallocation of staff from overseas in large number,” a statement from the company said.
Although there had been undue delay in the implementation of the project due to non-acquisition of land for the proposed steel plant, the company has announced it was hopeful of starting ground leveling work by December this year.
“The company is further encouraged by the support extended by Government of Orissa as well as Government of India for expediting the project,’ the statement said.
“Going by the recent developments, the company is happy to note that there is a greater understanding and wider consensus in favor of the project building up at all levels, notably among people in the project site.” …
If official sources are to be believed, … POSCO authorities were ready to wait for several more years to implement the project.
“The main worry of POSCO-India authorities would be over the day they were granted prospecting licence for the Khandadhar iron ore mines by the Central government.
As regards the people’s opposition to displacement by the proposed steel plant in Jagatsinghpur as well as the move to grant of prospecting licence to the company for Khandadhar mines, sources said that POSCO was used to such resistance.
“They are hopeful that things will slowly start changing and the opposition will lose strength in due course,” a senior government official observed.
Rehabilitation process begins
Meanwhile, the company, in association with the district administration, has started the process for rehabilitating 48 families that had left Patna village under Dhinkia panchayat of Jagatsinghpur following their differences with those who were against the setting up of the steel plant in their locality.
The company was hopeful that a transit camp for the 48 families would come up within four weeks. Simultaneously, efforts were being made to select a site for constructing a full-fledged rehabilitation colony for these families.
A company official said that once the habilitation colony was set up it would attract people from the camp that was opposed to the project.
The families which had come out of their villages on their own and were supporting the project would be given rehabilitation benefits under the provisions of the existing Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy of the State.
Going by the company’s stand, it appears clear that they might start thinking in terms of packing their bags only if the both the Central Government and the State Government expressed their unwillingness to extend help. But going by the eagerness on the part of both the governments to help POSCO-India, such a situation was unlikely to emerge in the next few years. After all, POSCO-India’s steel project still continues to carry the tag of biggest ever foreign direct investment in the country.
This sounds like a good reinforcement of it’s commitment to the Orissa project.
Business standard reports on government of Orissa and POSCO’s plans regarding R & R and compensation. Following are some excerpts.
… The government is also working on improving the compensation package for the area’s beetle-vine workers, who are among the most vocal opponents of the project as they fear loss of livelihood.
A joint exercise will be started soon for implementing the rehabilitation package. We will sit with Posco executives to decide what best can be offered to the displaced, in excess of the entitlements prescribed by the government’s rehabilitation policy and the package prepared by the company, …
The proposals which are being examined include a pension scheme for the displaced persons and a job card for all the displaced who are less than 60 years in age.
Money control reports on this about Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (DFPCL). Following is an excerpt.
Land acquisition process for the Company’s 300,000 MT Ammonium Nitrate project at Paradip in Orissa is in progress and, in the meanwhile, the Company has completed the process of acquiring key equipment and placed orders for long lead items in addition to commencing the detail engineering process for the new plant.
Statesman reports on this. Following are some excerpts.
Badamba-based Balaji Sugar is all set to start its sugar refinery unit by November this year with an investment of Rs 40 crore. The company has also planned to set up an ethanol plant with a capacity of 40000 litre.
… he said that the company through a special programme would lend soft loans at six per cent interest through banks to farmers as well as fertilizers and supply seeds at subsidized rates to more than 10,000 sugarcane farmers in all command areas of Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and undivided Cuttack district.
The company has announced a special plan for the farmers named Swarna Varsha in which farmers can get fabulous prizes against the number of sugarcane trucks they supply.
The new refinery will be of 2000 TCD with 100 per cent EOU (export-oriented unit) which will be manufactured from imported raw sugar from Brazil and Malaysia and will be exported to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Besides this, the company is also installing 40,000 litres per day extra neutral alcohol to be used as base product for all the distillery units in Orissa as well as neighbouring states. They are also having the plan to manufacture ethanol keeping in mind the global warming, which is an environment-friendly substitute of petrol, which is 5–10 per cent as per government directives.
On the other hand, the company has decided to set up a 20 MW power plant using crushed cane instead of coal. The factory at Badamba was sold by the state co-operative department with zero liability as well as to select the co-operative staff as per choice and head of the company without any compulsion to recruit them in the management by Balaji Sugar.
Livemint reports that Paradip port has floated tenders for coal and iron ore berths. Following are some excerpts:
Paradip port plans to build a Rs387 crore 10mt capacity berth for handling imported coking coal used for firing steel plants and another Rs505 crore 10mt capacity berth for handling iron ore export from India. When fully operational, the two berths will have deep drafts of 16 metres capable of handling ships of 125,000 tonnes initially and later 185,000 tonnes. …
Paradip port currently operates a 4mt capacity iron ore berth that handled 6.5mt of iron ore in the 12 months to March 2007. “Customers who take coal through Paradip port are allotted only 10mt by the coal ministry. Unless, we are given more, we cannot handle more,” says Raghuramaiah. The coal linkages for each customer are allocated by the coal ministry. Coal is shipped from Paradip to Ennore and Tuticorin ports for customers such as Tam.
Financial express carried a short interview of POSCO India Chairman and MD with journalist Dilip Bisoi. This interview gives a good idea of the status of the POSCO India project. Following are some excerpts:
- How you are going to accelerate the project’s implementation? We have chalked out a strategy to implement the project. We are preparing to start the ground preparation work by October 2007. Out of the 4,004 acre of land, 3,566 acre is government land and 438 acre is private land. Out of the private land, only 30 acre is fertile land as it yields double crops. We are willing to exclude the 30-acre fertile land from the project site. We are also willing to differ use of the 438 acre private land until the villagers were willing to sell.
- Anti-Posco activists have set up checkpoints and are not allowing anybody to enter the site. How do you plan to enter the area and start work? It is not true that we don’t have access to the site. We do have some access to the site. Villagers in Gadakujanga grampanchayat are supporting the project, while people in Nuagoan area are starting to change their mind in favour of the project. Only a small area of Dhinkia grampanchayat is not accessible. We will shed that portion from the project site for the time being. Access to the site and starting civil work will not be difficult.
- Have you prepared your R&R package? We are preparing a special R&R package for the displaced people. The Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, has been engaged in conducting a survey to understand the needs of the people. The package will be announced once it gets the approval of the Rehabilitation & Peripheral Development Authority. I promise, I will make their lives better than before. Rehabilitating 450 displaced families is not a big job. We want to provide them with a sustainable livelihood.
- How confident you are that the project work will start by October 2007? The next two to three months are very crucial. The prospecting licence for the Khandahar iron ore mines and forest clearance for the project site are expected in the next few months. Once these issues are settled, we will go ahead with the land preparation. If everything goes according to plan, we will procure equipment for the steel plant by the second half of next year. We will shop in the Indian market before going to Asian countries like China and Vietnam. The main plant, however, will be imported from Posco in South Korea. However, starting of the peripheral work at the site by October is very essential.
Economic Times reports road development related to POSCO’s proposed operations. Following are excerpts from that report.
… the government has decided to develop 600 km of highways, to be called Posco roads, to provide connectivity for the 12 million-tonne capacity steel plant in Orissa. The Rs 4,000-crore highway would be constructed on built-operate-transfer (BOT) model and would be completed by 2010.
The projects are part of phase-III of the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP). The Posco package consists of seven road stretches, including Panikholi-Keonjhar-Rimoli on national highway (NH)-215 and Chandikhole-Duburi on NH-200. The Cuttack-Paradip state road, jointly funded by the Orissa government, Paradip Port Trust and the roads ministry, will also help serve the transport of goods to and from Posco’s steel plant.
“NH-215 and NH-200 will be specifically geared to carry iron-ore traffic,” the official said. “The roads will serve Orissa’s industrial requirements for upcoming projects in the state, but Posco will be the biggest beneficiary,” he added. …
Apart from road connectivity being provided by the Centre and the state government, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to link Haridaspur and Paradip by railways has been formed by Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) in which Posco has 10% equity,” a Posco spokesperson said. …
Posco-India will also build a captive port at Jatadhari, 10 km from Paradip and a captive power plant with a capacity of 1300 mw. …
The company will also lay pipelines for industrial water utilisation from Jobra barrage.
Dharitri has a nice overview (page1, page2, page3) of the status of the various ports that Orissa plans to have. Following are some highlights from that report.
The article says that the Balasore district ports face problems from the Dept. of Defense because of the missile testing range nearby. The article does not mention the following plan:
Bhubaneswar, May 30, 2007
For the convenience of travelling public and keeping in view the demands of passengers, East Coast Railway has decided to run two pairs of Passenger Train between Cuttack & Paradeep from 1st June’07 replacing Rail Bus service except Sundays.
5 CP Cuttack-Paradeep Fast Passenger will leave Cuttack at 07.45a.m, Kandarpur at 08.03a.m, Raghunathpur at 08.22a.m, Gorakhnath at 08.44a.m, Rahama at 09.03a.m, Badabandha at 09.15a.m and will arrive Paradeep at 09.45a.m.
In the return direction, 6 CP Paradeep-Cuttack Fast Passenger will leave Paradeep at 10.15a.m, Badabandha at 10.31a.m, Rahama at 10.44a.m, Gorakhnath at 11.03a.m, Raghunathpur at 11.23a.m, Kandarpur at 11.43a.m and will arrive Cuttack at 12.15p.m.
Similarly, 7 CP Cuttack-Paradeep Fast Passenger will leave Cuttack at 03.00p.m, Kandarpur at 03.18p.m, Raghunathpur at 03.37p.m, Gorakhnath at 03.59p.m, Rahama at 04.19p.m, Badabandha at 04.30p.m and will arrive Paradeep at 05.00p.m.
In the return direction, 8 CP Paradeep-Cuttack Fast Passenger will leave Paradeep at 06.00p.m, Badabandha at 06.16p.m, Rahama at 06.29p.m, Gorakhnath at 06.49.m, Raghunathpur at 07.09p.m, Kandarpur at 07.29p.m and will arrive Cuttack at 08.00p.m.
Statesman has a report on Paradip port aiming to be the number two port in the country. Following are some excerpts from that report.
Armed with a Paradip business and strategy plan for the next 20 years and an action plan for the next seven years, Paradip Port has set on sail to become the No-2 port of the country. The charted course envisages investments to the tune of over Rs 3,500 crore and it aims at handling capacity of 106 million tones in five years. … The growth recorded was a phenomenal 15 per cent and the revenue surplus was around Rs 198 crore last year. All new berths being planned will be on PPA mode and the capacity which is 51 mt will be increased to 106 mt by 2011-12, said the chairman. He pointed out that by November this year, the single point mooring will be commissioned adding 15 mt handling capacity. This is a IOC project with a berth floating 20 km offshore and pipelines which are already in place. … Maritime trade is on the upswing and each port has set high targets but the uniqueness of Paradip is that it has handled 38.4 mt with only bulk cargo. Despite limitations of being a bulk port with 14 berths and a limitation of 12.6 metre in terms of depth of the channel, the port has handled such huge quantities. … There are plans and projects to deepen the channel upto 16 meters to accommodate 125,000 tonners. Presently, it can accommodate 75,000 tonners. The project entails investment of Rs 253 crore and is scheduled to be completed by August 2008. Simultaneously, enhancement of draught at the existing dock system from 12.5 to 14 metres has also been planned for completion by March 2008. … The port plans creation of southern dock system with an investment of Rs 530 crore and four berths. This is targeted for commercial operation by March 2012. The approaches and connectivity have also been planned in a futuristic manner with enhancement of rail connectivity Haridaspur-Paradip line slated to be over by March 2009, four-laning of Chandikhole to Paradip road by March 2008. Even relocation of the existing township has been proposed keeping in view the raid development of the port activities.
I came across several leaflets and brochures in POSCO-INDIA’s Press room pages. Following is the brochure that highlights the NCAER study that I mentioned earlier.
I came across a 1-page note someone from POSCO-India gave me when I was visiting Bhubaneswar in December 2006-Jan 2007. The 1-page note summarizes a study done by NCAER. The study has also been reported in News media such as Hindu Businessline. (POSCO-India in its web page has additional links.) We will give some excerpts from the Hindu Businessline report.
The 1-page note: POSCO-India’s rs 52,810 Cr investment by 2016 will stimulate Orissa Economy.
We now give some excerpts from the Hindu Business line article of January 2007 which partly explains how some of the above numbers were calculated. That article was written by R. Venkatesan who works for NCAER, but the article was his personal view.
The NCAER study broadly used the ADB/World Bank methodology on the social cost-benefit with minor adjustments for the local parameters. Econometric models were used to project border prices for the useful life of the project. The project’s impact from the State economy perspective — in terms of the impact on the State GDP (output multiplier effects) and employment opportunities created within the State (employment multiplier effects) was also assessed.
The output multiplier for iron ore was found to be 1.4 compared to 2.36 for steel. In other words, every Rs 1 lakh worth of output in the iron ore sector would result in Rs 1.4 lakh of output (including the Rs 1 lakh output of iron ore) compared to Rs 2.36 lakh for every Rs 1 lakh output of steel. The employment multipliers for iron ore and steel work out to 0.35 and 0.69 man-years respectively. Therefore, in terms of both output and employment, steel has a larger impact.
These multipliers imply that the Posco project would create an additional employment of 50,000 person years annually for the next 30 years vis-à-vis 870,000 person years in the steel project alternative. In terms of value addition, the iron ore and steel project alternatives would contribute 1.3 per cent and 11.5 per cent to Orissa’s State Gross Domestic Product (or SGDP) by 2016-17 respectively.
An important part of the study was the Least Cost Analysis of technology options in the steel-making, the Finex process that Posco purports to bring and the traditional blast-furnace technology. The Average Incremental Economic Cost was used as the yardstick; this was followed by computing the economic IRR (internal rate of return)
to examine whether the project was economically worthwhile from the national economy point of view.The EIRR for the Orissa project works out to 16.6 per cent for base case and even in the worst case scenario, the EIRR at 13.9 per cent would remain above the hurdle rate of 12 per cent. The economic impact of the project was estimated at $2.5 billion at the test discount rate of 12 per cent.
The significant feature of the study was the estimation of depletion premium or the opportunity cost for depleteable and non-renewable resource iron ore for reasons cited below:
India’s high-grade ore (+ 65 per cent Fe content — Haematite) reserves, proven and probable, amount to only 0.58 billion tonnes. And even if we were to factor in indicative and inferred reserves (probable/feasible), the total reserves (proven and possibly future potential) would be only 0.92 billion tonnes.
India’s medium-grade ore (+62 per cent Fe to 65 per cent Fe — Haematite) reserves, proven and probable, is only 1.3 billion tonnes. Here too, if we factor in indicative and inferred (probable/feasible and pre-feasibility estimated) reserves, the total reserves (proven and possibly future potential) will be only 2.8 billion tonnes.
Policy Implications
Orissa stands to gain significantly if instead of exporting iron ore it processes it to steel within the State, in terms of both employment generation (17 times), and GDP impact (9 times).
India’s high and medium grade iron ore reserves may not last more than 19 years even if exports of these grades are frozen at the current level or if the targets set out in the draft steel policy are to be met. The economic analysis considered the depletion premium for high and medium grade iron ore. This is the opportunity cost to the national economy of using the depletable resource, which is the average incremental cost of depletion premiums computed year-wise.
Any exporter of iron ore of medium and high grades from the State needs to pay a depletion premium of $27 per tonne. Even this would be a sub-optimal policy from the State’s viewpoint if it can process the medium and high grade ore to steel. No such depletion premium has been applied for coking coal as its price did not exhibit any
trend before the recent steep price hike.For the eastern States seeking to raise the mineral sector’s share in their GDP, it may be a good idea to set up processing facilities. It would not be advisable to allocate iron ore mines through open bids or accept increased royalty payments, even accounting for the depletion premium, compared to the option of processing iron ore to steel. Future cost-competitiveness and logistical advantage imply that iron ore-rich States can compete with existing over-capacities in the US, Europe and Japan even after factoring in the capital charges for new investments.
Export of iron ore needs to be restricted to grades other than medium and high-grade ore categories; for instance, export of beneficiated ore from Goa using inland waterways logistics advantages could be encouraged. Allowing exports of high grade ore would facilitate export of steel from existing over-capacities in the US, Europe and Japan to East Asia at the expense of future steel exports from new Indian steel capacities which are likely to enjoy cost-competitiveness over existing over-capacities elsewhere.
I am not qualified to judge the above analysis. I would appreciate any comments, analysis, criticisms etc. on the above.
Often many well-meaning people read about a particular R & R package for one location in one state and then compare it with R & R package and/or land prices offered in another state, in our case Orissa, and start making wild allegations that the Orissa government is incompetent in getting a good deal for its people or the company or foundation that wants to set up something is evil etc. etc. To make the obvious point, obvious to anyone who thinks rather than is driven by his/her preconceived ideology, that land prices vary across different locations in India, following are some data points.
(i) Hindu and Pioneer report about the Brahmani steel plant coming up in Jammalamadugu in Andhra Pradesh. There the Andhra Pradesh government has procured land at Rs 18,500 per acre for the steel plant which will need 10,640 acres. The government has also promised allotment of 3000-4000 acres for an airport at the price of Rs 9,000 per acre. The exact quotes from Pioneer are as follows.
The plant, to come up on an area of 10,640 acres, will be the second biggest plant after the Visakhapatnam steel plant making Andhra Pradesh the biggest steel producing State in the country. …
The Chief Minister denied any favouritism in providing land to the project and said that prices higher than market price was paid for the land. “The land has been purchased at the rate of Rs 18,500 per acre which is the highest in the district,” he said.
The quote from Hindu is as follows:
Announcing that BIL Managing Director Janardhana Reddy, an MLC in Karnataka, had agreed to construct a commercial airport nearby, he promised allotment of 3,000 to 4,000 acres of land at Rs. 9,000 per acre, half the price charged for land given to the steel plant.
(ii) On the other end of the spectrum following is an excerpt from Moneycontrol on land prices and compensation offered for land in Dankuni near Kolkata.
Construction giant DLF has offered to pay a whopping 55 lakh rupees an acre for acquiring close to 5,000 acres near Kolkata.
Never before has any company paid so much. Even the government paid up to 14 lakh rupees an acre in Singur, which is 20 kilometers away. DLF proposes to build an integrated township and a 100-acre SEZ. And the rehabilitation package it has promised, is awesome – guaranteed employment, alternative housing, education and even healthcare facilities for displaced farmers.
So what is our point? and Why is it relevant to Orissa’s growth and infrastructure development?
There are several land acquisitions going on in Orissa with respect to industries (POSCO, Tatas etc.), for Vedanta University, for various rail and road projects, etc. So when you come across a price or compensation package in another state and it does not gel with some other packages in Orissa that you have read about, please investigate more before getting all riled up and accusing the Orissa govt., its ministers, its bureaucrats, or the companies. They may as well be at fault, but please do research before deciding on it and shooting off emails or postings, as the above data points make it clear that land prices vary quite a lot among different locations in India.
Another point we want to make is that, Orissa has to balance between getting the best deal for its people (beyond the market price) and losing the project to another state. Again, the data point shows that there are other states who can offer very cheap land price and if Orissa asks too much (beyond the market price) then there is a real risk of losing the project. In case of steel and aluminium project, losing the project and consequently delaying in allotting certain mines may also mean that the mines may be allocated by the central govt to out of state companies. As a result Orissa will lose out on the value addition and on the infrastructure (such as roads, railway links, ports, townships, etc.) that are associated with large steel and aluminum plants.
A suggested approach to get the best deal for people (beyond the market price) losing their land is to have a central R & R policy that every state must follow, so that they don’t compete on the basis of who can offer the cheapest (relative to the market price of that particular location) land price and R & R. This can also be achieved if the relevant states (Orissa, Chhatisgrah, Jharkhand, etc.) agree on a common policy. (Sandip Dasverma, a friend, has often mentioned the later.)
[Acknowledgments: Deba Nayak of ornet for pointing to the Pioneer article in ornet. Participants of Orissa Today google group for engaging in multiple debates on this issue.]
Business Standard in an article in April listed several infrastructure related projects that Orissa is planning using PPP. Following are excerpts from that article.
… the Orissa government has lined up 18 new projects in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode entailing an investment of over Rs 6000 crore.
Of the 18 projects, 12, mostly large and medium, have already been consolidated with investments of Rs 3500 crore.
Another six projects, fairly bigger in respect to the previous ones, are under active consideration and would cover an investment of around Rs 2500 crore, according to government sources.
Source said, till date, an around Rs 5300 crore investments have already been lined up and are under implementation in the PPP module in 12 odd projects across the state.
In all the Orissa government plans to develop 30 odd projects in different sectors in the PPP module over the next two years covering an investment of over Rs 11,300 crore. …
The PPP modules currently under implementation and those under consideration cover a wide range of activities starting from port cuilding, railway line construction, road development and erection of urban clusters. …
The new projects being considered under the PPP module included development of road links in the Capital Region Ring Road, the Bhubaneswar-Paradip Road, the Suakati-Dubuna Road and the Tensa-Barsuan-Lahunipada Road.
These would entail a primary investment of Rs 1547 crore for the development of 279 kilometres of road, including a four-laning of the first one.
Other than this there would World Bank identified projects where four laning would be done of the Sambalpur-Rourkela road from the existing two-lane road.
The long pending Joda-Bamebari Road and Koira-Rajamunda Road covering 229 kilometres would also be taken up.
The PPP module would be used for two vital rail links. The first was the Angul-Duburi-Sukinda rail link and the second the Gunupur-Theruvali link. In both cases, the Special Purpose Vehicle ( SPV) route was being proposed. The investment for the rail links was estimated to be in the region of Rs 570 crore. The Angul-Sukinda rail link would be of 90 kilometres and the Gunupur-Theruvali link would be 79 kilometres.
PPP’s for setting up Bio-tech parks, SEZ for IT/ITES companies and integrated commercial and residential complex, an enclave at Shahidnagar are were also part of the city building endeavour of the Orissa government.
This apart, a commercial shopping complex and an A.C.Market complex at Unit IV are also being contemplated in the PPP mode as part of city development plan.
Till date, investment for the SEZ for IT/ITES companies had been identified and were estimated to be in the region of Rs 35.67 crore. As for the other residential and commercial complexes, project details and cost were being worked out on a war footing.
Coupled with these, a multi-product SEZ at Paradeep had been suggested by the government for development using the PPP route. It was expected to entail an investment of Rs 712 crore.
Land of around 1093 hectares would be needed for the SEZ in the Marshagahi Tehsil of Kendrapara under Paradeep.
This article is probably based on a presentation available from the Orissa govt. website. That file seems to be corrupt but its google cache shows part of the information.
Various newspapers (Telegraph, Financial Express) report that the Cabana group has announced a hotel and a management institute in Bhubaneswar and plans to open many hotels in various locations in Orissa. Following is an excerpt from Telegraph.
Co-chairman of Cabana Hotel Management Private Limited and venture capitalist, Prabhu Goel, said the institute will be the group’s first training venture anywhere in the world. “Since the industry demand is huge, we hope that all students will be absorbed after training,” Goel added.
The institute, for which the government has allotted a seven-acre plot near Dumduma, will have hostels for 1,500 students, classrooms, labs, kitchens, along with a an attached 200-bed hotel. The group will represent Best Western brand in India, provide hotel management services and consultancy, he said.
Over the next 10 years, the group intends to add more than 100 hotels and 10,000 rooms to the growing Indian hospitality market. “We have visited places like Chilika, Puri, Konark and Paradip. We are interested to set up hotels there. We have plans to invest around Rs 350 crores in developing properties in the state,” said Goel.
TOI reports that POSCO has become operational with it’s new FINEX technology in a steel plant in South Korea. The same FINEX technology will be used in the Orissa steel plant. This is particularly relevant for high Alumina grade Ores found in Orissa. The new steel plant in South Korea will improve the output of POSCO by 11%.
Other papers which reported the same news were Statesman,Financial Express and Reuters India. Brunei times provides a different analysis to the same story also.
Samaja reports that Paradeep oil refinery would function from October 2011.
However, there were many such announcements published earlier. Every time a new date is fixed. The project is already shifted 5 years from the actual schedule.
It gets reported once in a while [Hindu1, Hindu, Technoligence,iocl ] that IOC plans a new 300,000 barrels a day refinery and petrochemical complex at Paradip. Timesnow.tv has a recent report on this.
Samaja has a beautiful editorial page article by Ramachandra Pattanayak. In it the the author explains that if we continue opposing Posco, Tisco and Mittal what will happen is that steel plants will be made in other states, our mines will be assigned by the central government to these steel plants in other states and we will lose out on many fronts including infrastructure development that comes with steel plants, ancillaries, etc. Similarly, he says it does not make sense that we are so vocal about IIT etc. and yet we oppose Vedanta University.
I agree with the author. The assignment of mines is not fully under state govt. control. We can not sit on requests and delay assigning mines. If we do that currently the central govt. has the right to assign the mines to others. Losing out on the mines, we lose out on the related infrastructure developments such as townships, railways, roads, and to some degree ports. We also lose out on the ancillaries. In this regard one may note cities with big steel plants such as Rourkela or Jamshedpur. They all have lots of ancillary units around that area. So even if the main steel plant does not employ as many people as in the past, there are more opportunities for ancillaries these days as the state is keen on going after auto factories, bicycle factories etc. These ancillaries will hire a lot of people. But, of course, we should not force people out of their land; they should be enticed with good compensation (R&R). On the other hand we need to be very careful and wary of some of the neighboring states who are trying to spread their ideology to our state and in the process trying to steal some of these upcoming developments in Orissa. In this regard it is amazing that politicians and MPs from a neighboring state are able to come to Orissa and say that their party opposes such and such project in Orissa. At the same time the party of these politicians support industry in their state so much that they or their allies have sent in cadres dressed up as policemen to kill and rape people opposed to industrialization in their state. What gull these politicians from the neighboring state have and how stupid we Oriyas are to invite them, give them a platform and listen to them.
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